


Archaeology

by nightspear



Series: Daniel of Abydos [4]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Mild Language, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-02
Updated: 2015-01-02
Packaged: 2018-03-04 19:53:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 294,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3086753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightspear/pseuds/nightspear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In their fourth year, Daniel and SG-1 seek urgently to strengthen ties with allies and find the resources they need in the escalating war with the Goa'uld, balancing between right and wrong, truth and lie, and life and death.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Temptations

**Author's Note:**

> This is the sequel to Brotherhood, which is the sequel to Diplomacy, which is the sequel to Translations. This will probably only make sense if you've read those already. Specific spoilers are for anything from Season 1 through early to mid- Season 5, and there may be mentions of people and information from later seasons.

**_31 August 2000; Embarkation Room, SGC; 1700 hrs_ **

Jack turned as Carter and Teal'c's footsteps joined him and the general at the ramp, watching the event horizon. "We just received the Alpha Site IDC," Hammond told them. "They're gathering a few things and are on their way back."

"Ah," Jack said, "off-world training with Daniel. Must be fun."

"Poor SG-3 and -13," Carter agreed, though she looked more amused than sympathetic. "Two whole weeks."

Between this training session, some research trip before that, and one mission SG-1 had been dragged into during that time, they hadn't seen Daniel for over three weeks. Jack imagined that Daniel and Dave Dixon's archaeologist, Dr. Balinsky, would have driven everyone mad within a few days. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to cram the off-world orientation for new military and research personnel and the abbreviated boot camp for the civilians all into one trip.

Dixon stepped out first, soaking wet but looking happy. "They're on their way, General," he said.

"How'd they do, Colonel?" Hammond said, eyeing the water dripping onto the ramp.

"Had a little too much fun with those _intars_ , sir," Dixon said, smirking crookedly. Four scientists in ponchos followed him out of the wormhole. "And fair warning--we're gonna need a few mops in here. It's been pouring at the Alpha Site for the last few days."

And then SG-3 walked out, along with someone who was so thoroughly covered in mud that Jack only knew who he was because he had glasses and managed to look cranky even through the sludge. "Wow," Jack said. "Impressive. Is that the new camo, Daniel?"

"I slipped," Daniel said grumpily. He shook his glasses, and a clot of mud dropped to the ramp.

"There was an accident, sir," Wade explained. "A hill with a puddle at the bottom. And someone who fell right down into it."

The other four of Dixon's team stepped out, significantly cleaner if just as wet. Balinsky took a look at Daniel and snorted. Daniel glared at him.

Hammond shook his head. "All of you go get cleaned up. You're dismissed--you'll have performance reviews with Major Wade and Colonel Dixon on Monday."

Daniel caught Jack's eye, looking a little sheepish under the irritation, so Jack let the line of wet personnel pass on their way to the locker room and caught up to Dixon. "Hey, Dave," he said. "They do all right?"

This time, Dixon grinned. "Your kid tried to pull the young and clumsy routine when we ran the scenarios," he said, clapping Jack on the shoulder with a sopping wet hand before turning toward his own locker room. "Worked at first, until he finally _actually_ tripped and rolled down the side of a muddy hill. But he did all right once his team got used to him."

Carter and Teal'c were just behind him. Jack brushed off his wet shoulder and said, "Well, as soon as Daniel's done, I'm about ready to--"

An alarm sounded. _"Unscheduled off-world activation!"_

"--go home. Never mind," Jack said, running back toward the stairs to the control room to clear the corridor for the security teams. As he looked back, he saw the soaking SG-3, SG-13, and Daniel all pause and look around at each other. "Go," Jack called to them. "We'll handle it."

Carter was looking over the 'gate technician's shoulder. "No IDC yet, sir," she said as Jack reached the console. "No one's due back, but SG-14 and -15 are the only ones off-world--they were on P6Y-325."

"Which one's that?" Jack said.

"Lasarians," she said. "SG-15 did the initial assessment and called for SG-14 for follow-up relations and possible negotiations."

"They were supposed to be a fairly primitive society," the general said. "We didn't think there'd be any danger to speak of--they're not due back until tomorrow."

"Goa'uld?" Jack asked.

"Not that they knew of."

"SG-14's IDC," Sergeant Harriman said suddenly. "Opening the iris...we're receiving an audio transmission, General."

Jack turned back to look at the open wormhole as a voice crackled through: _"...taking heavy fire! Jaffa...cut off from--"_

"Security teams stand by," Hammond ordered, then, into the microphone, "Major Graham, are you able to reach to the Stargate?" The distinctive sound of staff weapons came over the speakers. "Major Tomlan? SG unit, please respond."

_"This is Captain Blasdale, sir,"_ someone finally answered. _"Sergeant Lewis and I were separated from Major Graham and Lieutenant Astor. We saw...three of SG-15 go down. We're pinned down--we don't know the status of the other three on SG-15 or the rest of our team--"_

A yell, and then Blasdale's voice was drowned out by gunfire.

"Sir," Jack said, "SG-1 can be ready to go in two minutes."

"Gear up," the general told them.

Jack led the way out, Teal'c and Carter both behind him as they ran to their gear-up room.

Daniel was just finishing peeling his muddy outer clothes off when they ran into the SG-1 ready room, but he looked up as they entered. "Hey," he started casually. "So you know how the--"

"Not now, Daniel, stay back," Jack snapped. Daniel stopped immediately and backed into the shower stall to stay out of their way.

"Who?" he said as they changed quickly.

"SG-14 and -15," Teal'c said succinctly.

_SG-15 minus three_ , Jack thought. Before long, there might not be anyone left to rescue. "Let's go," he said briskly as soon as all of them were dressed, zipping his vest as he went.

They arrived back in the embarkation room to find the wormhole open, though Jack couldn't tell whether it was the same incoming one or an outgoing one. "General?" he called up to the control room.

_"They don't want to let the wormhole close in case they can't get to the DHD again,"_ Hammond answered. _"They think they can make it on their own. Let's give them a chance."_

Jack was adjusting his grip on his weapon, impatient, when two men ran backwards through the event horizon, still firing until they emerged onto the ramp. "They're right behind us, sir!" Captain Blasdale called, flinching belatedly as a stray staff blast whizzed past his and Sergeant Lewis's heads.

But ten seconds passed, and then twenty, thirty, a minute...

"Captain?" Jack asked Blasdale, who was staring anxiously at the Stargate.

"I don't know, sir." The SG-14 captain made a movement as if to return back through the wormhole, but stopped. "Something must've happened. Sir, we need to go back--"

Then one more man came running through. "Where's Astor?" Major Graham yelled, moving to the side to stay out of the line of fire.

"She was with you, sir," Blasdale said.

"Come on," Lewis urged, watching the wormhole. "Where are you?"

"Major?" General Hammond said, rushing into the embarkation room. 

But before Graham could answer, a woman dove through the Stargate and rolled to a stop. "Close the iris!" she yelled. "Close it! They're right behind me!"

The iris closed over the Stargate as the wormhole disengaged. The side door slid open as General Hammond walked in. "What happened?" Hammond demanded as Lewis offered a hand to help Lieutenant Astor to her feet. "Where's SG-15?"

They hesitated too long before speaking, and Jack knew the answer already.

"Didn't make it, sir," Captain Blasdale said. "I don't know what happened--death gliders flew in while we were in the village. By the time our team got back to the Stargate, SG-15 was already under fire. We couldn't... They didn't make it, sir."

General Hammond lowered his gaze for a moment, then nodded. "All right," he said quietly. "Report to the infirmary, SG-14. SG-1, stand down."

"But we weren't hurt, sir," Major Graham said, sounding dazed enough that Jack almost wanted to doubt that.

"Infirmary," Hammond repeated. "Humor me, son."

"Sir..." Astor spoke up, wiping a smudge of blood from her cheek with a shaking hand. It didn't seem to be hers. Jack couldn't help remembering the young, bright but inexperienced officer she'd been only a year ago, when SG-1 and Daniel had put her through her paces to test her readiness to join the SGC. "But...when...?"

"I'll notify their families," the general said. "And I'll let you know about memorial services."

...x...

Daniel was walking out just as they returned to the locker room. He looked like he'd jumped into the shower and back out as fast as he could, still pulling his shirt over his head, his hair still dripping as he watched them approach. "False alarm?" he said tentatively, hopefully.

"No," Jack said, pushing into the locker room and pulling his equipment off angrily. "Over."

No one said anything for a while as they stripped back out of their mission gear. "Who?" Daniel said quietly.

"SG-15," Teal'c said.

"Major Tomlan's team? All of--"

"Yeah," Carter said.

"Oh," Daniel said.

Jack slammed a locker shut. They finished changing in silence.

"Who came back?" Daniel said as they were about to leave.

"SG-14," Jack said despite not wanting discuss it. But, because Daniel was friends with some of the members of the team and would want to know, he added, "It was a joint diplomatic mission. They were ambushed. We'll be debriefing once SG-14 gets out of the infirmary. Might be a little while. Didn't look like they were injured, but they were..."

"In shock," he filled in. "No, of course, I understand."

Carter gripped Daniel's shoulder briefly. "We need to be at their debrief. I know you just got back, and you're not technically back on duty until Monday--"

"No reason to hear about it second-hand if there's anything I'll need to know," he said. He met her eyes, and then Jack's, with a firm nod. "I'll be there."

XXXXX

**_1 September 2000; O'Neill/Jackson Residence; 1900 hrs_ **

"So what'd they make you do out at the Alpha Site?" Jack asked Daniel as the four of them gathered around takeout dinner the next day for a somewhat subdued team night.

It took a few moments for an answer to come. Daniel might not have known SG-15 well, as a primary combat unit, but a loss was a loss, and six good men had died yesterday. Still, there was an unofficial but necessary protocol for this, too--they mourned and then had to move on, or the program would be constantly crippled.

Daniel cleared his throat and said, "Uh...nothing but conditioning and drills for the first week--Dixon was in charge of me and Cameron, the Alpha Site officers showed the non-field scientists around the Site, and Major Wade worked with the military personnel. The second week was spent in scenarios they'd set up."

"When's your next session?" Jack asked.

"I think they said around February for the second session, if no one has a critical mission then. When Cameron and I pass that, we'll both be considered"--he raised one hand to draw quotation marks in the air with his fingers--"'qualified to take part in combat situations.' Only if we're absolutely required to do so, of course."

"Because that _never_ happens, you getting into one of those situations," Jack said sarcastically.

Daniel made a face at him. "What about you guys? What have you been doing?"

"We spent much of the last weeks beginning treaty negotiations with the Tok'ra," Teal'c said.

"Didn't people begin that months ago?" Daniel said.

"Only on our end, on Earth," Carter corrected, sitting back and sipping at a can of diet coke. "There was a lot to go through to get the President to agree totally, and at that point it was still just something we'd only mentioned to the Tok'ra. Now, we've presented it formally to the High Council and gotten an initial idea of their demands."

"Eek. That must take a long time," Daniel said, shoveling forkfuls of noodles into his mouth with the absentminded, hungry impatience of a seventeen-year-old boy who had just gotten back from two weeks of physical conditioning.

"You're telling us," Jack said. "You're not the one who had to sit through it."

"Are we still on that?" he asked around his food, and then swallowed. "The negotiations. Or are you passing it to another team?"

"We were about to hand it off to SG-14, actually," Carter said. "They've been reading up on the Tok'ra, at least until they went in to help with the Lasarians. After this last mission with SG-15...well, no one wants to draw the negotiations out, but the general's considering giving the assignment to SG-9 instead if they'd handle it better."

"You talked to some of SG-14 this morning, didn't you?" Jack said, pointing at Daniel. "How were they?"

"I only talked to Lieutenant Astor," Daniel said. "It was just, uh...before they left to go to the memorial off-base, and she was...shaken, I guess. But they seemed all right--I think they can take it if they've been preparing for it. At least the team's all together right now."

"That's something," Jack acknowledged. At least all of SG-14 had made it alive and unhurt.

They fell quiet for a moment. Jack had almost decided it was time to speak up again when Teal'c said, "Dr. Rothman has been preoccupied recently with his new project. He has asked me more than once when you would return to help him."

"Oh, yeah!" Daniel said, enthusiasm returning with a snap. "He showed me this morning. He's been working with one of the evolutionary biologists. I'm not totally sure why, but he seems really excited, so it must be something interesting...but in the meantime, he's probably going to make me do all the translation stuff he's put aside for it."

"Oh, that's his Goa'uld evolution thing," Carter told him. "He's got this pet theory--I think he's been working with Janet and other people who know Goa'uld biology, but you should ask him about it if you're interested."

"Goa'uld evolution?" Daniel echoed, and inhaled another mouthful. "Huh."

Jack saw a sudden image of Rothman messing with Goa'ulds in the lab until he evolved one to a giant, mutant Goa'uld. He really hoped that wasn't what they were doing.

"By the way," Carter said, "there's something I wanted you to look at. It's running a diagnostic now, but if you're free tomorrow, I can swing by here and pick you up..."

"Sure," Daniel said, looking eager to be doing something that wasn't running drills for the first time in a few weeks. "What is it?"

Jack met Teal'c's gaze and shrugged. Teal'c raised an eyebrow, then dug in to finish off his dinner, and they tuned Carter and Daniel out together. "Think I should order them to get a life?" Jack asked his friend, pointing at the oblivious other two with his fork.

"I believe it would be in vain," Teal'c told him.

"Yeah, probably," Jack agreed fondly.

XXXXX

**_8 September 2000; Control Room, SGC; 0700 hrs_ **

So it wasn't really a surprise to see Major Carter already in front of the control room computers when Jack went to work a week later, heard the alarms, and rushed to see what was happening.

"I still can't make it out," she was telling one of the technicians as he approached. "Try to filter out the subspace RF interference."

"Carter?" Jack asked.

She turned, startled. "Colonel! This is the fifth incoming wormhole in the last hour and a half--"

Exasperated, he said, "All right, I'm here two hours early. When did _you_ get here?"

"Haven't left yet," she said absently. "Daniel and I were stuck in the lab."

As if summoned by his name, Daniel ran up the steps into the control room. "Just got the call," Daniel said, looking far too enthusiastic for this hour of the morning when he'd apparently been awake for hours already. "Did they really send a transmission this time?"

"What are you so excited about?" Jack asked.

"They sent a message, Jack," Daniel said, looking over Carter's shoulder. "People are trying to make contact with us!"

"How do you know they're people?" Jack said as Carter fiddled with something else.

"If they have radios and are trying to talk to us," Daniel said, "it would be pretty interesting no matter what species they are."

And then Jack found himself with the image of a monkey holding a radio, although what he'd _meant_ was that it could be some Goa'uld trying to get their attention the way Sokar had before. Then again, if a Goa'uld was trying to get their attention, he supposed he'd want to know that, too.

_"...repeat,"_ a voice crackled from the computer's speakers. _"We...Euronda base. Did you reach the other side? This..."_

Jack had a brief moment to register that it was some heavily accented English, which, in his experience, was usually a good time to guess there had been some non-Goa'uld influence--in the last several hundred years...and then he realized what the man had just said. The man wasn't talking to them; he was talking to someone they'd just sent through the wormhole, and with the iris closed...

"Oh my god," Carter said as Daniel sat up next to her. Turning to the technician, she said urgently, "Do we have the frequency?"

"Not yet, Major," he said, still working. "They're sending a transmission..."

Subdued, Daniel said, "I'll, uh...go look up 'Euronda.'"

"I'll get the general," Jack said. "Someone call Teal'c!"

...x...

"They've sent people through," Carter said as they sat around the briefing room. "We've registered three impact events on the iris, so we're assuming at least three dead."

"What do we know about them?" Hammond said.

"Just from their communications technology, sir," she said, "they're relatively advanced. They said their historians have developed theories about the Stargate, and they knew how to dial and which address led to the Tau'ri. I'd estimate maybe a hundred years ahead of us and definitely not under Goa'uld rule anymore."

"They themselves may be Goa'uld," Teal'c said. "Such a ruse would be consistent with their tactics."

"And within the evidence observed so far," she allowed.

"But they said 'brethren' and 'kindred,' which implies that's not the case," Daniel pointed out. "And if it were a Goa'uld who knows about us, they would have known about the iris and not sent people through to be killed."

"They speak English, too," Jack said. "What's that about? Is this an Asgard planet?"

Daniel shook his head. "Euronda's not listed as one of the Protected Planets in the treaty, but we've seen hints of Asgard influence on other planets--they may have been interested in studying a relatively advanced human race but not felt the need to protect them, and they pushed language development the same way they did on Earth. Or these might be people who split off from..." He waved a hand, trailing off. "There are any number of possibilities."

"There _is_ a humanitarian concern, sir," Carter said. "It sounds like these people are in real danger, and they sent us their coordinates, too."

"Even assuming we can trust them," Hammond said, "what kind of help can we seriously offer?"

"They're fighting a war from an underground bunker, General," Jack said. "Food, medicine, water--can't go wrong with that."

"Clearly," Teal'c said, "they seek military assistance above all else."

"It sounds like their enemy is someone we haven't had to face before," Jack said, "so we don't know exactly what we'd need to beat them."

"Alar says their weapons technology is superior," Carter said. "It sounds like they need...well, numbers, probably, possibly fuel and other supplies."

"We cannot and would not devote the resources to turn the tide of a world war, Major," Hammond said.

"Sir," Daniel spoke up, "they're descendants of Earth, and they're asking for help. Shouldn't we at least see if we _can_ help? I mean, if we don't do anything, it sounds like they're going to die."

"I realize that," Hammond said. "All right, SG-1, you have a go. We'll start with all the food and medical supplies you can take with you. Major, Teal'c, perhaps..."

"On it, sir," Carter said, and she and Teal'c left quickly.

"Mr. Jackson, you're dismissed. I believe Major Graham wanted you to look over something for his team--some wording issues in the Tok'ra treaty negotiations." Daniel's eyebrows shot up and he started to say something, but Hammond cut him off with, "It's a war zone, son. You can stay up to speed on the Euronda situation from base and, if SG-1 thinks it would be helpful, you can join them after an initial assessment."

"Looks like we can talk to them ourselves," Jack added.

"Yes, sir," Daniel said resignedly. He turned to Jack as if to say something, then changed his mind and left.

"Colonel," the general said once they were alone in the room, "humanitarian concerns aside, we may have finally met an advanced civilization willing to exchange technology to help us defend against the Goa'uld."

And wouldn't that be a nice change. Jack nodded in agreement. "My thoughts, sir."

"I've already talked to the President and the Joint Chiefs," Hammond said. "If the Eurondan government is open to trade, you're authorized to negotiate."

XXXXX

**_9 September 2000; Underground Facility, Euronda; 0100 hrs_ **

Right after they'd arrived, Jack had had the horrible thought that Alar, the man who'd contacted them, was going to die of injuries before he could vouch for them. What he hadn't counted on, though, was the marvel of Eurondan medicine.

"Our _betacantin_ gives us quick healing...Major," Alar assured Carter, standing easily a few minutes after sustaining what looked like a pretty massive concussion. "I am well."

Jack would be more than all right with getting his hands on some of that stuff.

And they'd gotten spoiled having an interpreter do their talking for them--he'd almost forgotten the way communication tended to be like talking with a thesaurus, hoping one of the words they said would be recognizable with the other language and tossing the others' words around to make some sense of their own. Still, they were making do.

A small commotion made them turn to see Teal'c being escorted in at gunpoint. "Alar," one of the escorts said, "we found one of the enemy among us."

Jack just stopped himself from rolling his eyes. It wasn't like Teal'c was hard to recognize or anything. Teal'c looked rather bored with it all, actually. "He's not your enemy; he's with us," Jack said. He waited for the Eurondan weapons to drop, then said very firmly, "I know you get paranoid in a war, but trust me--he's with us."

"O'Neill," Teal'c said calmly, "supplies are being distributed as we speak."

"Who is this?" Alar said abruptly, meeting Teal'c for the first time--he'd been unconscious when Teal'c had gone to start handing out supplies.

"Alar, this is Teal'c," Carter said.

"You are not of their kin?" Alar said to Teal'c.

"I am, in fact, a Jaffa," Teal'c said, "but, like you, my ancestors are descendants of the Tau'ri."

When Alar still seemed wary, Jack clarified, "Tau'ri means Earth. Us. So, in a way, we're all...kin." Alar didn't seem to find this an encouraging idea, so Jack added, "He's part of our team. A friend. Brethren."

"Is he?" Alar said, looking surprised and a bit unenthusiastic. "Then...you may come."

Teal'c seemed inured to the fact that he looked more like an enemy of the Tau'ri than a friend and only bowed politely in response. To be fair, Jack could see how someone with Teal'c's size and strength (and frown) with a gold tattoo on his head could be taken for someone to be feared.

"Come," Alar said, leading them down a corridor. Jack glanced up once, but it seemed the bombing had stopped for the moment.

"Alar," Jack said, catching up to him. "You know the Stargate goes to a lot of worlds, right?"

"Yes, that is known."

"We can give you the address of safe worlds," Carter said. "Why haven't you tried to evacuate your people through the Stargate?"

With a look back at all of them, Alar reached toward a large door. "Because of what I am about to show you."

The door opened to a large chamber. At first, that was all Jack could tell about the place, until he looked closer and realized that there were what looked like pods all around the room. "Are those...people?" he asked, thinking this was one of the creepiest and most impractical places imaginable for building a morgue.

He was only partly right, thought. "They're in stasis," Carter said, her voice awed. Jack took a second look around, started to count how many bodies had to be there sleeping around the room, then gave up and guessed 'a lot.'

"Their hearts beat once every few minutes," Alar said, gazing purposefully around the chamber. "We had little choice but to live under the ground, and we are limited in what we have. It was the only way to preserve the generation of my father."

"May they be revived again?" Teal'c said. "Will they awaken?"

"Not until the day we take our world back," Alar said.

"How many are there?" Jack asked.

" _Thusents_ sleep here," Alar said.

Carter frowned, and then her eyebrows shot up and she turned again as if to start counting herself. "You mean--sir, he's talking about thousands of... Wow, there must be...two or three thousand here."

"And...thousands more in another room," Alar added, "awaiting the end of a war that will not end."

Jack looked past Alar to Teal'c and Carter to gauge their expressions. _Thousands_ was as many people as existed on some entire planets, and while those were considered the small ones, it was still not insignificant. Letting the Eurondans get killed would be like watching as a world was destroyed.

Alar was already moving on, though, and stepped out of the room, beckoning. "Come. I will show you the rooms where we carry out the Eurondan defense."

Jack took a final look at the sleeping Eurondans and followed.

"You conduct defense for all of Euronda in here?" Carter said as they stepped into a new chamber, filled with consoles, each of which was manned by one of the Eurondans.

"Yes," Alar said. "Each station is capable of piloting a formation of unmanned aerofighters. Because of these men and women"--he gestured around at the pilots in each station--"enemy bombers rarely return to their home."

"Most impressive," Teal'c said. Jack was, impressed, too--the best Earth had in terms of things like this was a UAV that didn't always do what they wanted. Unmanned fighter aircraft...not a bad deal. Carter was examining a display on a tabletop and didn't see his questioning look, but she seemed interested enough in the technology that he assumed it was valid.

"What about ground attack?" Jack said, trying to estimate how big a facility like this should be and how difficult it would be to defend it from attack on foot. If they were as outnumbered as Alar had implied...

"The fighters are capable of turning such attacks," Alar said absently, looking at a map next to Carter, "but the enemy has not risked such an attack in several years."

"For what reason?" Teal'c said. "You are both outnumbered and surrounded. Why would they not press their advantage?"

Alar's second, Farrell, replied, "The atmosphere of Euronda has been poisoned since the war began. The surface is unlivable, leaving aerial attack as their only possibility."

Jack frowned, but before they could ask anything else, an alarm sounded.

"A single enemy drone approaches our territory," one of the technicians called.

"I see it," Alar said, focused on the map. To SG-1, he added, "Would any of you care to attempt to shoot it down?"

Jack looked up, alarmed at the prospect of shooting down an enemy in a war that wasn't theirs, though he couldn't help being a little interested nonetheless.

"The target is an unmanned reconnaissance drone sent for bomb damage assessment," Farrell assured him.

"Unmanned?" Jack clarified.

"Think of it as a demonstration," Alar said. "Are not your people more likely to be forthcoming with assistance if we have something to offer in exchange?"

Well, when it was put that way... Carter looked up at him as well in question. "Sure, I'll try it," Jack said, and took a seat at the console.

...x...

"To friendship!" Alar pronounced, raising his glass of what seemed to be wine.

"To friendship," Jack echoed gamely along with the men and women around him, raising his own glass.

Teal'c, he noticed, didn't.

Alar noticed, too. "You did not join in the pledge," he said coolly.

"I do not consume alcohol," Teal'c said.

Jack replaced his glass on the table and tried to figure out what that was about. Not drinking alcohol was one thing; Teal'c could have at least acted like he was playing along--saying the words wouldn't hurt anyone, especially given that they were trying to establish a friendship here. The alcohol was just an excuse, then, which meant Teal'c had a problem with something. A sideways glance at Carter showed her examining her wineglass while peeking up at Teal'c in mild consternation, having apparently come to the same conclusion, and since Teal'c had more life experience than the two of them combined...

Crap. This was why he hated negotiations.

He forced himself back to professionalism, though, when Farrell said, "Were you impressed by our weapons system, Colonel O'Neill?"

Now, that one was easy. "Oh, yeah," Jack said honestly. "We'll take a dozen."

Fortunately, this seemed to diffuse the tension that had settled around the botched toast, and the Eurondans chuckled appreciatively.

Carter's smile, however, became a little strained, reminding Jack that the chairs worked by some method that eventually turned pilots into vegetables. He didn't like the concerned look she'd given him after he'd taken one of those things for a test drive, and he had a problem with putting Air Force pilots in those things, too.

But still.

The technology was still worth looking into, he decided, quashing a spark of unease.

"This food you brought is most flavorful," Farrell added, an MRE open before her.

"Oh, we can do better," Jack said, thinking that she was being tactful, until she added--

"You must understand that we have survived on hydroponically grown yeasts for many years."

Jack smiled and put down the spoonful of yeast he'd been about to eat.

Picking up the conversation, Carter said, "This place is really incredible. Your power generation requirements must be enormous."

"Do you not utilize controlled fusion on Earth?" Alar said casually.

The word fusion caught Jack's attention, and he could see from Carter's expression that it had caught hers, too. He cleared his throat. "Controlled...?"

"It is a most efficient means of power generation," Alar explained. "Unfortunately, the deuterium oxide fuel we require to operate our reactors is now in short supply."

"Heavy water," Carter said excitedly. To Jack, she added, "It's like regular water, sir, except the hydrogen nucleus contains two--"

"I know what heavy water is, Major," Jack snapped. She stopped, looking embarrassed at the assumption, but he also knew that heavy water was something that _wasn't_ in short supply on Earth, so he added, "And if that's what the Eurondans need, we'd be happy to provide."

Surprised smiles broke out, and two of the people at the end of the table began whispering excitedly. "In return," Alar said, looking satisfied, "we can teach your people how to construct weapons systems such as ours. Aerofighters, what you call 'stasis devices,' fusion reactors."

In exchange for some heavy water, from a planet like Earth covered mostly with water, not to mention a couple of abandoned watery planets they'd found? "Sounds fair," Jack said, careful not to sound too excited. "Carter?"

"Medicine," she reminded him.

"Oh, yeah, right--we were very impressed with that beta-con--candi...stuff," he said, wishing he remembered the word.

" _Betacantin_ ," Alar corrected. "Of course."

"We need to confirm this with our superiors," Jack said. "We'll--"

A technician ran into the room. "Alar, enemy bombers have penetrated the outer perimeter!"

Farrell surged to her feet and snapped, "Defense stations!"

Which reminded Jack of just how much time they didn't have to futz around. "We'll go and see what supplies we can bring back for now before we finalize things," he decided. "Carter, Teal'c, let's go back and talk to the general. Alar, we'll be back as soon as we can."

"Hurry," Alar urged.

XXXXX

**_9 September 2000; Embarkation Room, SGC; 0800 hrs_ **

Jack stepped out of the wormhole and called up toward the control room, "We need to talk, sir!"

_"Come right up, Colonel,"_ Hammond said into the microphone. Jack glanced at the briefing room window, where he could see Daniel apparently stuck in a meeting with SG-14--the Tok'ra treaty, probably--and trying to catch his eye. Jack waved once to tell him they were all right and hurried up to the control room.

"Sir," Jack said, "we've negotiated access and availability to just about every advanced Eurondan technology."

"In exchange for an unspecified quantity of heavy water," Carter added.

"That's all?" Hammond said, surprised.

"That's all," Jack confirmed.

"What do they want it for?"

"As you probably know," Carter said, "heavy water contains deuterium."

"Which can be used to make nuclear weapons," the general said, his expression unreadable.

"Yes, sir, but they use it to fuel nuclear fusion generators."

Hammond's expression became interested. "Fusion?"

"Alar says that bit of extra power could stave off total defeat," Jack said. "They're under attack as we speak."

"They're willing to share the technology as well?" Hammond said.

"Yes, sir, everything," Sam said, "and it is incredible. They're at least a hundred years ahead of us. Maybe even more, but if we don't act soon, they're going to be overwhelmed."

"Sergeant Siler," the general said, gesturing to the sergeant.

"Ill get right on it, sir," Siler said, moving quickly away.

"Well done," the general told them. "Return as soon as you can. We have a deal."

...x...

**_9 September 2000; Underground Tunnels, Euronda; 0900 hrs_ **

"This is all you were able to bring?" Alar said, looking dismayed at the small container of heavy water they had with them.

"On short notice, yeah," Jack said.

"This much will not last a day!"

"There's more coming," Jack said. "We thought you'd be happy to get at least this much as soon as possible."

This seemed to have restored Alar's hope, and the man said, "More will come, you are certain?"

"Much more, yes," Carter assured him.

"Add the fuel to the reactors immediately and set the defense field to full power," Alar ordered as two Eurondans came to take that container away. "A demonstration to the enemy--we must show them that we are strong once more!"

As they spoke, a loud _boom_ sounded from overhead, and the walls shook around them. "I take it this isn't the safest place to be," Jack said, looking up warily and half-expecting the ceiling to cave in on their heads.

"No, Colonel--this way," Alar said, beckoning them back toward the chamber that served as a dining room.

As they ducked in, there was another impact above them. Jack flinched reflexively as Carter said anxiously, "That sounded close."

"Above us in the old city," Alar confirmed. "Let me show you another of the wonders we will share with you for all you have done." He moved to one of the walls and brushed a hand against the side. Running feet distracted Jack into turning around to see a few Eurondans heading toward the war room.

"Should we help..." He started, then turned back around. "Whoa."

The wall had become a transparent window, giving them a full view of some kind of generator, spinning slowly in place.

"The field generator is capable of repelling the force of many bombs like a great shield," Alar said. "It has saved our people from destruction my entire life." As they watched, the generator began to turn faster. "You see--the fuel you brought has strengthened it again."

"How long will that last?" Carter said.

Alar sighed. "Several hours."

"I'm sure we'll be able to send more fuel by then," Jack said with a twinge of...

Well, their mandate was to get technology, and they were saving these people's lives in the process. They were strengthening shields. Nothing wrong with that.

...x...

"He is remembered," Alar said, raising his glass at their next gathering, once the bombing had stopped. Jack automatically raised his glass in response.

"For whom do you pledge this remembrance?" Teal'c said. His glass was, again, untouched.

"My father," Alar said. "Through his vision, Euronda has survived."

Something about this wasn't sitting well with Teal'c. Jack wished he knew what the hell was going through his friend's head, because now something wasn't sitting right with Jack, either, and he wasn't sure if it was these people, or the idea of being constantly bombed but for the grace of water, or the suspicion that Teal'c managed to lace into his voice when he said, "I see."

Dammit. He _really_ hated negotiations under fire.

Speaking of, Alar turned back to Jack. "It is customary among our people to formalize new alliances such as ours. In exchange for all our knowledge, technology, and medicines, Earth will provide us with however much heavy water as we require to end this war once and for all."

Whoa.

Jack took a quick look at Carter to see how that added up, only to find her already looking at him. "Do not be alarmed, Colonel," Alar assured them. "Merely three or four times that which you have just provided on a daily basis."

"That adds up to several metric tons a year, sir," Carter said.

"It's a small price to pay for what we offer in return," Alar pointed out.

"Right," Jack said slowly.

And all of a sudden, he remembered that they had this rule that said they weren't supposed to stick their noses into human disputes unless they were willing to pick a side and defend it. He didn't think _'they had cooler technology than the other guys and the Stargate was on their side'_ counted as a good defense.

Still. Apophis and the other Goa'uld were out there, and they needed the technology. More than that, they were saving the Eurondans' lives from the...the...

Huh. Saving their lives from _The Enemy_. Which was...

"Alar," Farrell said suddenly. "Listen."

"What?" Jack said when he couldn't hear anything.

Alar smiled. "Silence. I barely recognize it. Are we agreed, then?"

"Sir," Carter said, "if you're going to go back and tell General Hammond, I'd like to stay here and take a look at the fusion technology."

"It would be my pleasure to show you the process," Alar told her, gesturing all of them out of the meeting room. "Colonel, if I may speak with you...?"

Jack pulled ahead of the group with Alar as they made their way down the corridor. "What's up?" he said.

"I look forward to your return," Alar told him amicably. "But perhaps it would be best if the Jaffa did not return next time."

Surprised, Jack said, "Teal'c? Why? He hasn't said a word."

"It is not what he said," Alar said. "It is what he _is_."

And now those alarms that had been lurking in the back of his mind were jangling away, because he still wasn't sure what the hell was wrong, exactly, except that he didn't like people telling him not to bring his team with him. And plenty of people didn't like Jaffa, but Teal'c had been unhappy with something for a while, which usually meant something was up...

"Well, he's different, I'll grant you that," Jack allowed, fishing for Alar's meaning.

"Not... _like_ us," Alar said, smiling.

But the Eurondans didn't even _know_ what Jaffa were, except that Teal'c was one. Jack was pretty sure he could assume Teal'c hadn't shown them his stomach, so whatever this was, it wasn't about Goa'uld. He stared at the Eurondan's smiling face--and then he realized there were other things about Teal'c that could be considered different. "Right," he said.

Still wearing a friendly smile, Alar pulled back and gestured Carter away down one of the corridors.

Jack nodded to her to go ahead, then waited for Teal'c to catch up to him at the DHD but didn't dial. "What's your impression of Alar?" Jack said quietly.

Without hesitation, and looking a little relieved to have been asked, Teal'c said, "That he is concealing something."

"Like what?"

"I am unsure. He is concealing it." Jack rolled his eyes--he'd walked into that one. "What do you propose, O'Neill?"

"You go back to the SGC," Jack said. "Tell Hammond what's going on--what they've said to us, whatever thoughts you have on this. Have those heavy water shipments ready, but don't send any more until I report back. I'm going to have a look around."

Looking satisfied, Teal'c turned and began to dial the DHD. Jack took a look around to orient himself, then headed in the direction of the stasis chamber. There were many things that made a man like Teal'c different from the people they'd seen here so far, and with thousands of people in stasis, there was an easy way to find out.

XXXXX

**_9 September 2000; Briefing Room, SGC; 1100 hrs_ **

Daniel glanced out the window toward the Stargate and forced himself to stop thinking about SG-1 on Euronda for long enough to get through this seemingly endless meeting. He swore silently that he wouldn't tease Jack anymore for having to sit through talks with the Tok'ra.

"I don't see what the problem is," Major Graham of SG-14 was saying. "The President was careful in ensuring that clause would be mutually beneficial to the Tok'ra and Earth."

He wondered how the negotiations were going on Euronda. He supposed he shouldn't complain; he and SG-14 weren't even in negotiations in this meeting. They were just preparing a document with which to negotiate with the President, with whose approval the SGC could then negotiate with the Tok'ra. This must be easy in comparison to--

"Jackson."

"What?" Daniel said, tearing his attention back. "Oh, uh...the problem is that it could be interpreted as a contradiction of Section 176 of the Protected Planets Treaty we have with the Asgard and the Goa'uld." He flipped to the relevant section. "Sorry, I mean, 178." He passed the open book to the major. "Or am I reading that wrong?"

A moment later, Captain Blasdale, looking on with Graham, made a face and said, "Yeesh."

"At the time, it was either sign the treaty--the _whole_ treaty--or be destroyed, Captain," General Hammond pointed out.

"Yes, sir," Blasdale said doubtfully. Daniel knew what he meant--it was one of the many sections that they would have removed or changed if they and Thor had had enough time and clout for it. They didn't actually have to worry about the Protected Planets Treaty most of the time, but reading it over only reminded Daniel that Asgard Protected Planets--like Cimmeria--could be free of the Goa'uld and still be handicapped in technological development.

"I don't think it contradicts, Jackson," Graham said.

Lieutenant Astor had opened her own copy of the Asgard treaty and was reading it with Sergeant Lewis. "Actually, due respect, sir, I think it does," she said. "Or, rather, it _could_ , in the Goa'uld, especially if they use a more formal dialect for things like this. Is that what you mean, Daniel, that it doesn't translate well?"

"Yes, it depends on how it's interpreted by a Goa'uld-speaker," Daniel agreed. "The Tok'ra might think this means something slightly different from what we mean. Or...uh, what I think we think it means," he amended, wishing formal documents didn't have to be so indecipherable.

"Right," Astor agreed. "So unless we clarify it with the Tok'ra to make sure there's nothing lost in translation, if the System Lords find out about it somehow and decide to nitpick about the Protected Planets Treaty, we could potentially be in a lot of trouble."

"If the System Lords can find a way to meddle in our signing a treaty with the Tok'ra," Graham argued, "I don't think the Protected Planets Treaty is the first thing they'll bother with."

"You're right, Major," the general said. "But just in case, let's keep as far away from potential complications as we can. You don't have an opinion about the correct reading, Mr. Jackson?"

"I do," Daniel said, "but the point is that there _are_ other possible interpretations. Could we just change the wording to make sure there can't be any ambiguity?"

"I'll work on that, sir," Astor said, making a note. "Daniel, I'll check with you or Teal'c before we finalize--"

_"Off-world activation!"_ the technician called.

The general sighed, then stood up and headed toward the control room. Daniel looked anxiously toward the Stargate, then said hopefully, "You guys don't need me for anything else, do you?"

"Anyone got a translation issue?" Graham said. "Wording, interpretation..." No one spoke up, so the major said, "I think you're done, Jackson. Is SG-1 coming to Vorash with us next time?"

"I think so," Daniel said as the iris closed over the active Stargate. "The Tok'ra don't like people they don't recognize walking around their planet. We might end up escorting and introducing you and then leave."

From the control room, the technician announced, "SG-1's IDC."

"Major...?" Daniel said anxiously.

"Go ahead," Graham told him, nodding toward the control room, and Daniel gratefully stood and hurried to see what was going on.

Teal'c stepped through first, and then the wormhole deactivated behind him. Before Daniel could start to worry about the other two, Teal'c said, _"Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter have both remained on Euronda to continue gathering information."_

Daniel frowned. The last he'd heard, they'd had a good deal in the works, though he didn't know the details except that it involved advanced technology.

They waited in the control room as Teal'c made his way up the stairs. "General Hammond," he said, "we have reached an agreement with the Eurondans that requires only your approval."

"Well, unless something's changed since the last time you were here," the general said, looking confused, "then you already have it."

"O'Neill believes it necessary to learn more about the Eurondans," Teal'c said. "It is for that reason that he did not return with me. Moreover, Alar wishes for us to provide them with sufficient heavy water to enable them to defeat their enemy."

At first, Daniel didn't see the problem, because that was what they'd set out to do. Then he remembered that saving the lives of one side wasn't the same as taking the lives of the other. There were strict rules about their involvement in disputes unless one side was clearly the aggressor. "Who's their enemy, again?" Daniel asked. "Sorry if I missed--"

"We do not know," Teal'c said.

"You...don't _know_?" Daniel repeated. "Couldn't you just...you know...ask?"

"I believe," Teal'c said, "that the identity of this enemy is a part of what Colonel O'Neill is attempting to discover."

The general looked down at the console for a moment, as if to digest that. "What's your take on the situation?" he asked Teal'c.

"Something is being concealed from us," Teal'c said promptly. "However, it is possible that it appears so to me because their leader dislikes me." Daniel's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Because you're Jaffa?" the general said, though he was frowning.

"I thought we decided they weren't a Goa'uld planet," Daniel said. "That they didn't seem to have had any Goa'uld contact."

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed. "Alar knew immediately that I was not their kin, but he was not aware of what a Jaffa was before I informed him."

"Well, if it wasn't because you're Jaffa, why did he think you were--"

"I am uncertain. General Hammond, I do not wish to impede an alliance. But if O'Neill also believes further investigation is warranted, it does not seem wise to agree immediately to provide the Eurondans with what they require to win a war. O'Neill requests that the heavy water fuel be prepared but that we wait for acknowledgement from him and Major Carter."

"All right," the general said. "I'll do that. Are you going back?"

"The Eurondans have requested that I not return," Teal'c said.

"Huh," Daniel said aloud. Disliking a man wasn't unheard of, but for a people so desperate for aid as the Eurondans to decline help from someone like Teal'c, who, if nothing else, could do the work of several human men as a warrior...

"We'll wait for word, then," the general said. He looked for a moment like he was considering staying in the control room to wait for the other two to arrive, then remembered SG-14 was waiting for him in the briefing room. "Mr. Jackson, are you done in there?"

"They said they don't need me anymore, sir," Daniel said.

With a nod, the general returned to the briefing room. Left in the control room to wait with Teal'c, Daniel found a clear spot to stand and watch for SG-1 without bothering anyone.

"You think something's wrong with these Eurondan people?" Daniel asked Teal'c.

Teal'c tilted his head, considering. Finally, he said, "I cannot be certain."

Daniel made a face. "I didn't realize it would be so complicated," he said. "Someone asks for help, you help them. Right? But then we're not supposed to meddle in disputes--"

"It is as you said yourself," Teal'c told him, still standing stiffly and watching the Stargate for any sign of incoming travelers. "Upon receiving the message from Alar, we could no longer completely remove ourselves from the dispute. Our action would most likely win the war for the Eurondans and condemn their enemy to defeat. A lack of action would be the same as to condemn the Eurondans to death."

"So you're saying," Daniel said, "that once we received that message, our only options were to ignore it or to pick a side. And by ignoring it, we would have been picking a side anyway."

Teal'c glanced at him. "Indeed."

"I suppose the technology we'd get out of this deal with the Eurondans had something to do with that choice," Daniel muttered.

With a sterner look this time, Teal'c said, "The Eurondan lives we witnessed being lost had much to do with the choice, Daniel Jackson."

"Right," Daniel said, chagrinned, because his perspective was that of someone who hadn't seen the situation firsthand at all. He supposed it looked very different from within the underground place where the Eurondans apparently operated. "There's no chance of a diplomatic solution? Helping to find a peaceful end to the conflict?"

"I do not believe it to be possible," Teal'c said. "The war has continued too long, and each side is too distrustful of the other. Moreover, the surface of their world is poisoned, and the only way to reach one nation from the other would undoubtedly result in the death of the negotiator. They do not appear to have established other communication with their enemy."

"Oh," Daniel said. He hadn't heard about the poisoned air before. "That's why they live underground, then? Because the air was poisoned, and they had no choice but to...build..."

He frowned, thinking over that again. Teal'c turned sharply to him, perhaps thinking the same thing. "Their facility is constructed to withstand not only aerial attacks but also the toxic atmosphere," Teal'c said, sounding thoughtful. "They have lived there for a generation or more. If they had been attacked and the air poisoned as unexpectedly as they claim..."

"Then how did they survive long enough to build a technologically advanced war bunker where they seem to be trapped and running out of the supplies they'd stocked up?" Daniel finished.

"Perhaps they built it in response to the attacks and it serves only coincidentally as protection from the air."

"If they're underground, they have to get air from somewhere, right? Doesn't the SGC get air from pipes to the surface or something like that? If they've been fighting a long war, they must have some..." Daniel waved a hand.

"A system for the purification of heavily poisoned air," Teal'c supplied. "Perhaps some large store from which they can draw, or a chemical reaction like that used by the Tok'ra."

"Which would take time to set up, which suggests they were expecting it," Daniel said.

Teal'c nodded. Daniel had the feeling that was significant. He just wasn't sure exactly what it signified--or, rather, a suspicion was blooming, but it was something he didn't want to consider without knowing the facts first. "Or they built in that precaution to begin with and it's not an indication of anything," he added to be fair, but it didn't feel right. Jack called it 'gut feelings,' even though Sam had confirmed--with an amused smile--that neither thoughts nor emotions came from the gut. Whatever that feeling was, Daniel's was telling him that there was something wrong.

"That is also possible," Teal'c said neutrally.

The Stargate began to turn.

"Incoming traveler," the technician announced. Within moments, the general had rejoined them at the control room console as the technician added, "SG-1 remote signal."

"Open the iris," the general ordered. "Sergeant," he added to Siler, at another part of the control room, "have the heavy water prepared for transport upon my order."

Sam walked through first, with Jack behind her, both of them aiming their weapons toward the wormhole. The security team on the floor of the 'gate room snapped into position as Jack called, _"Close the iris!"_

"Do it," the general told the technician, then hurried to the stairs. Teal'c and Daniel both followed him into the 'gate room. The iris closed just as they entered the room. "Colonel--"

A thump sounded from the iris. Daniel flinched. The wormhole disengaged.

"We were unable to obtain advanced Eurondan technology, sir," Jack said, and then stopped--no embellishments, no jokes, nothing.

The general must have sensed it as well and said only, "Very well. We'll debrief in an hour."

As he left, Daniel turned to Jack and Sam. "What happened?"

"The Eurondans started the war," Jack said.

"By poisoning the atmosphere?" Teal'c said.

Sam seemed surprised that they'd guessed it as well, but said, "Yes. They were trying to exterminate the other side."

"Exterminate them? For what?" Daniel said, confused.

Jack stalked angrily down the ramp and past Daniel and Teal'c. "For being _different_ ," he said, and left the room.

"We'll explain," Sam said. To Siler, she added, "We won't be needing that water, Sergeant."

XXXXX

**_9 September 2000; Gymnasium, SGC; 1400 hrs_ **

Daniel found Jack punching things in the gym.

"You know," Daniel said over the sounds of impacts, "Teal'c likes me to train with more mobile opponents. So I've seen this used, but somehow, I've managed not to find out what it's called."

Without looking away, Jack said a little breathlessly, "What are you talking about?"

"The bag you're punching."

"It's a punching bag, Daniel."

"Really," Daniel said, amused despite the grim situation SG-1 had just left behind. "But the bag doesn't punch you. Shouldn't it be a...a _punched_ bag? If you're making an adjective of a verbal participle to modify a direct object, you'd think the passive form would be used, right?"

Jack paused but didn't answer. After a moment, he started again.

Eyeing the older man, Daniel said, "Is this where the phrase 'knock the stuffing out of' comes from?"

"Daniel!" Jack said, stopping and turning around, looking annoyed.

"I know," Daniel said, nodding, "I should pay more attention to prepositions and the clauses they come at the end of."

Jack blinked, then accused, "You do that on purpose."

"Only when I'm talking to you," he admitted.

"Wasn't talking about your grammar."

Daniel tilted his head, trying to judge the look on Jack's face. "I know."

"So what do you want?" Jack said, adjusting the padding he was wearing on his hand.

"Are you okay?" Daniel asked.

Scowling, Jack said, "Why?"

"Because you're turning the punching bag into a killing bag."

This seemed to confuse Jack momentarily out of his annoyance. "The bag's not killing anyone."

"Exactly," Daniel said triumphantly. "You wouldn't call it a killing bag because you're killing it; so why do you call it a punching bag because you're punching it?"

Jack stared at him for a moment, then squeezed his eyes shut. "All right. You're starting to make sense. I obviously need some sleep."

Daniel grinned but let it disappear by the time Jack opened his eyes again. He took a seat on a nearby bench. Jack considered the punched punching bag and reached out to stop its gentle swaying. Instead of starting again, though, he joined Daniel at the bench.

"It was tempting, wasn't it," Daniel said more seriously. "The Eurondan technology."

Jack gave him a suspicious look, as if he thought Daniel might be accusing him of something. Daniel raised his eyebrows. "Pretty tempting," Jack admitted.

"Yeah. Sam said there was some...miracle medicine, and some neural-interface-something weapon...something..." Jack snorted. "Okay, I don't know what it was, but it sounded really good, so I guess I understand."

"You didn't see it, Daniel. This stuff the Eurondans had--with the right planning and a little work...we could've done so much. Not only that; this is the kind of thing our scientists have been trying to do for years. And it was almost ours for practically _nothing_."

"Nothing but lives, yes?" Daniel said. "We can't fight an enemy by becoming them, Jack. There are choices that--"

"Apophis is alive," Jack interrupted, because when it came down to it, that was what they were facing. Apophis had a massive fleet of Goa'uld and Jaffa servants and was gaining more even now. He'd clearly progressed past the point of caring whether other System Lords agreed with him, and he hated the Tau'ri, perhaps more than any other Goa'uld did. And there were certainly enough other threats even _without_ Apophis. "Remember that guy?"

Daniel stared at the crack at his feet where two mats didn't line up perfectly and said evenly, "Do you think I would ever forget about Apophis?"

Jack sighed and leaned back on his hands. "Guess not."

"Teal'c said there was no good choice for you, on Euronda," Daniel tried. "I didn't see what it was like, but it sounded like you made the best choice possible."

"Do you have any idea how many Eurondans are probably dead in that bunker right now?" Jack said.

"Sam said you saw about one to two hundred people--"

"Yeah, and--"

"And an order of magnitude more in stasis, just in that bunker. She told me."

Jack clenched a fist and released it. "So how's that choice sound now?"

"It's what would have happened if we hadn't interfered," Daniel said, wishing there were something better to say than ' _they would have died anyway._ '

"You know what I keep thinking?" Jack said, standing up abruptly. Daniel leaned away, surprised at the sudden movement, but kept silent as Jack crossed his arms and looked down at him. "Alar downloaded the information and designs, and he was gonna give it to us. If we'd kept up the game a little longer--another day, maybe even another few hours--we could've had it."

"That would have been cheating," Daniel said without thinking.

"Cheating?" Jack echoed dangerously, looming threateningly the way he tended to do without noticing it when he was angry. "We lost SG-15 last week, Daniel. Six men. That's the second entire team we've lost in two months, along with two others from other teams and a man from our security force who'll never walk again. In the last _two months_. And you think it would've been _cheating_ to find a way to win this war?"

Daniel held his seat, knowing very well that Jack wouldn't hurt him for all he might bluster and loom. "I understand, Jack," he said tightly. 

"The Eurondans are getting killed whether they gave us those plans or not, and we're sitting here empty-handed because we didn't want to _cheat_ ," Jack said sharply.

"Well, I'm glad you didn't," Daniel said just as sharply, standing as well, "because I wouldn't have been able to look at you if you'd done something terrible for it. That's the...the 'technology at all costs' idea you went undercover a few months ago to stop."

Jack looked thunderous for a moment, then deflated. "You're not _really_ glad that we didn't get those plans," he said.

"No," Daniel had to admit. "Not...entirely."

Silently, there was a part of him that wished SG-1 had kept up the act, just long enough to get weapons technology that the Tau'ri would need decades to develop on their own. It would almost certainly have meant more of the Eurondans' enemies' deaths in that time, but it was tempting to turn a blind eye to that when the victims were faceless entities.

He was ashamed enough by the admission, though, that he looked back down. "But I am glad, a little," he said. "At least, I'm glad you weren't a liar and a thief and a...an accessory to genocide."

"Much good that'll do us," Jack sighed, but in resigned acceptance, so it was all right. Daniel was sure there weren't many at the SGC who'd never been tempted, at least once, to be a liar and a thief or even a murderer for the sake of something that could save their lives and their planets. There was nothing wrong with the thought, per se; what mattered was what they did in the face of that choice. He wondered if what bothered Jack was how close they'd come to accepting the Eurondans' offer.

"You know what's interesting?" Daniel said.

"The fact that our death toll has tripled since we got our best piece of healing technology chewed up by Replicators?" Jack said, too bitingly to be anywhere near a joke.

"The fact," Daniel countered, "that any rise in the death toll has little to do with the sarcophagus." Jack narrowed his eyes. "There's a list in our office of the people who have died since the program started. You can count on one hand the number of people in the past several months whose bodies may have been retrievable."

"Thanks for the statistics."

"And using a short span of time like that is not an accurate way to calculate statistics."

"So it has nothing to do with our healing technology," Jack said; "we're just getting better at getting our asses kicked out there. Gee, a fleet of remote fighter planes powered by nothing but water might come in handy there, don't you think?"

Daniel sighed and sat back down. "That's what the Eurondans were offering?"

"Pretty much," Jack said, and then, "You keep a list of the dead?"

"Robert started it. He used to write them down and pretend it was to keep track of the translators, but...well, everyone's name goes on there. We've never talked about it--you know how he is--but he knows I add names to it if he's missed anyone."

"That's kinda morbid," Jack said.

"It's important to him. To keep track."

Robert kept that record meticulously, despite the fact that he had known few of the fallen as better than a passing acquaintance and often hadn't much liked the ones he _had_ known. It was the idea of it all, Daniel thought. Robert Rothman had never in his pre-SGC life expected to be in a profession where people around him died on the job and his own decisions sometimes influenced whether or not someone survived. Daniel wondered if it was easier for himself, having grown up on stories of men and women who had died for freedom and then having been drawn into this life so early. He wondered if he _wanted_ it to be easier.

It wasn't, he decided, suppressing a shudder at the memory of the pain in Kristen Astor's voice when he'd talked to her the day after she'd watched SG-15 fall. He wouldn't let it become easy, but he could deal with it. It was a skill as much as any other he'd learned here.

"So you know how badly we're getting our asses kicked," Jack repeated.

Daniel chewed his lip but didn't answer, knowing it was getting too close to being true for comfort. "So what happened? You said at the debriefing that the Eurondans were prejudiced against people of...of what they considered impure, uh, genetic...appearance, something like that, and that they started the war, but...what exactly happened?"

Jack shook his head. "Carter was looking around in their control room, checking out their technology, the plans for their facility... She found pipes. At first, she thought they were for air from the surface."

"Which was poisoned," Daniel said.

"Yeah. It wasn't their air source; it was how they poisoned the air to begin with. They'd built their bunker in preparation for the war long before they started it. Alar told us himself that they wanted to stop the spread of the breeders, that they were spreading like a plague."

"The...'breeders'?" Daniel repeated. "'Spreading?' You're sure they meant humans?"

"They thought Teal'c was one of them, Daniel," Jack snapped. "So, yeah, I think we can assume they were human. Apparently, the 'breeders' reproduce with no regard for genetic purity."

"Oh. _Oh_. I've read about this," Daniel realized. "In your history books--wars fought over...the same thing, really. Exactly the same thing. Thousands and thousands of people killed..."

Jack glanced at him, then away again. "It's not a part of our history we're proud of."

"I can see that," Daniel agreed, thinking he understood now the strength of the disgust--from Jack and Sam but also from the general--once they'd found out what the Eurondan war was about. Abydos wasn't free from prejudice, but since most Abydons' ancestors were from a small area of Earth, and since they'd spent most of their history without enough freedom to start wars between humans, what he'd read of Tau'ri history held much more of that type of widespread dispute than Abydonian history did. Wars were about power or ideological differences or both--it wasn't surprising to see parallels in other planets' disputes.

"Anyway," Jack finished, "the bree--the other side launched the first attack on the Eurondans as a preemptive strike to try to stop them from poisoning the..." He made a motion with his hand like something floating into the air and dispersing.

It struck Daniel that they didn't know anything about the so-called breeders, either. The Eurondans may have been the ones trying to kill all of them, but for all the SGC knew, the other side's morals were no better. He supposed that was why they were supposed to avoid interfering in conflicts of this scale. They couldn't know, and if they didn't know, they shouldn't judge.

As if eager to end the discussion, Jack moved to the middle of the mat and gestured Daniel to join him. "Come on, let's spar. I feel like hitting something."

Daniel folded his arms, not moving. "You need to work on your persuasive skills, Jack."

"I can make it an order."

"Yes, and?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "You're in your workout clothes. You're here for a reason. Come on, warm up, stretch--I wanna see what they managed to pound into you at the Alpha Site."

Daniel stood and joined him on the mat, jumping in place a few times to warm himself slightly before running through a warm-up sequence Teal'c and Sam had pieced together for him. "The civilians' physical requirements are different, you know, even for those of us on exploration teams."

"Y'think? I made up those rules for you, and then we made the rest of the scientists meet them."

"Oh. Right."

"But _please_ tell me you managed to take down one of the Marines, at least once."

"Why, did you bet on it?" Daniel said, and then, "Jack. You _bet_ on me against a Marine in CQC?"

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Who says my money was on _you_?"

Daniel stopped where he stood and crossed his arms. "With whom?"

"Teal'c," Jack said unrepentantly. "So? Did you ever take down one of SG-3?"

Shaking his head, Daniel said, "Once. It was one of the new members. He thought he should go easy on me, and I learned from Teal'c how to deal with people stronger and more skilled than I am... They _stopped_ going easy on me after that, so I stopped winning much in the free sparring." He'd made a good showing, though, and even when he fell to them, it wasn't without a fight. It was more than the newer Marines had expected, which was enough to gain a bit of respect.

"That's it?" Jack said, his tone dismayed, but his expression was pleased.

"All of SG-3 are from MARSOC, which I'm not exactly aiming for," Daniel pointed out. "A lot of it was structured drills, anyway, not...trying to win or lose. So which one of you bet against me?"

"I'm not telling you," Jack said.

"I'll ask Teal'c."

"Yeah, and I'll bet you _he_ won't tell you, either."

Daniel rolled his eyes but thought it was the better part of valor to say, "No bet."

Jack shrugged. "Warmed up? Let's go freestyle. I want to see what you need to work on."

"Want to hear something that'll make you feel better?" Daniel said as he finished a quick stretch. Jack raised an eyebrow. "SG-14 is about two hours from Washington D.C. to discuss the newest draft of the Tok'ra treaty with the President and his advisors."

Frowning, Jack said, "Poor bastards. Why the hell would you think that makes me feel better?"

Shrugging, Daniel said, "I don't know. I just thought...schadenfreude or something."

This time, Jack laughed, so he settled into a stance and prepared himself.

"How's that treaty looking, by the way?" Jack said as they circled each other.

"Uh--" Daniel started, and then, " _Oof_." Somehow, he was flat on his back with Jack's weight pressing him to the mat.

"For cryin' out loud, Daniel!" Jack said in exasperation, standing up. "What the hell did I send you to boot camp for? You should've been able to take that, easy."

"You were...talking about the Tok'ra!" Daniel said, grimacing as he pushed himself to his feet.

Jack threw up his hands. "What, should I have--"

Daniel took the opening to kick Jack's legs out from under him and pull him to the mat. "Hah," he said triumphantly, holding Jack's shoulders pinned down. And then one of Jack's hands gripped his arm and twisted sharply, and almost before he registered any pain at all, their positions were switched. " _Yi shay_ ," he sighed.

"Don't just lie there!" Jack barked, not moving. "Throw me off, get up."

He could do this--he reached around with a leg and twisted to liberate an arm enough to use, knocked one of Jack's arms away, and he was almost out--

Jack threw him back down, and after a quiet but fierce struggle, Daniel found himself facedown with one arm twisted just enough to incapacitate him.

"So what'd we learn?" Jack said, though he was breathing hard this time.

Daniel tested Jack's grip, winced, and stopped before he hurt himself by resisting too hard. "That...I can't get up once you bring me down," he panted. Also, that Jack wasn't going to hold back with him anymore, which might have made him feel pleased if he weren't lying flat on his stomach with Jack's knee in his back.

"Then don't go down in the first place. Keep your feet if you can."

The weight pinning him disappeared. Daniel rolled over to see Jack backing off. "Right," he said, standing up more warily. "Do you feel better _now_?"

"Little bit," Jack admitted. "Still got some life in these knees."

Shaking his head, Daniel raised his guard.


	2. Anise and Freya

**_14 September 2000; Archaeology Office, SGC; 0930 hrs_ **

Daniel started to walk past the office on his way to one of the linguistics offices next door when Robert's voice stopped him. "Hey, Daniel, come here," Robert said.

Coming to a stop, Daniel stuck his head in the door. "I'm getting a book from Rick. Nyan wants me to--"

"Well, stop it and listen," Robert said, so Daniel abandoned his book search. "Got a call just now. You're supposed to be in the embarkation room in five minutes."

Had he forgotten a mission? There was nothing on SG-1's schedule, there wasn't a check-in with Abydos for weeks, and none of the other teams' Egyptian or Ancient specialists was off on leave or medical. So... "Why?"

"I don't know. Something about the Tok'ra. I was just told that someone's coming to meet."

"But me?" Daniel said reluctantly, because the Tok'ra rarely--if ever--came to deliver good news, and he'd been planning on spending the day cataloguing artifacts with Nyan. "Why not you?"

"Because the message was for SG-1, and I'm your boss and I say so," Robert said. "And you've always done the Tok'ra thing, not me."

"But--"

Jack walked past the office. "Daniel," he barked. "Tok'ra. Now."

Daniel sighed and returned to the room of extra artifacts that no one had had time to catalogue, which doubled as Nyan's office because he was the one who ended up cataloguing them. "I have to go meet the Tok'ra," Daniel told the Bedrosian apologetically as he plucked his jacket from where he'd left it hanging on a chair. "Sorry."

"Oh," Nyan said, looking disappointed and not a little daunted about the pile of work he'd been planning to complete that day.

From the hallway, Jack's voice yelled, "Daniel! Where the hell did you go?"

"You should go," Nyan advised, waving him out before Jack could come to drag him away.

...x...

Sam and Teal'c were both already in the 'gate room with General Hammond, watching the active Stargate, when Daniel and Jack arrived. _"Receiving Tok'ra IDC,"_ Sergeant Harriman announced from the control room. _"Opening iris."_

"The message I got was pretty vague, sir," Jack said.

"So was the transmission we got from the Tok'ra," the general answered.

"Now, see, I hate that," Jack complained. "In fact, the Tok'ra are starting to annoy me in general."

Sam looked at him sideways. "Sir?"

"Don't get me wrong," he assured her while Daniel thought a similar thing silently, glad Jack was there to stick his foot into his mouth so that Daniel didn't have to. "Your dad's great--I love him like a brother. It's just that every time they show up, it seems like it's all kinds of--"

A Tok'ra emerged from the event horizon.

Daniel, who had been expecting perhaps Martouf or Aldwin or some other operative they'd seen before, felt his eyes widen when he saw instead a considerably more striking envoy in the form of a somewhat-clothed woman. All of a sudden, he was reminded of Skaara and Sha'uri's teasing him about women, and he had to avert his gaze for a moment in an effort to stop blushing.

"The High Council of the Tok'ra sends its greetings," the new arrival said.

Her voice was blended, so this wasn't someone like Martouf, whose host personality normally spoke in sensitive situations over the less tactful Lantash, or like Selmak, who usually stepped back to let Jacob speak whenever they working with the Tau'ri. That didn't mean much, though; Aldwin usually spoke over his symbiote, but he was generally less sympathetic to unblended humans than Garshaw, who tended to speak over her host. Jacob had explained once that true blending meant that neither personality _dominated_ over the other even if one voice did. Daniel had found the voice to be mostly an indication of the particular Tok'ra's understanding of and sensitivity to human culture and a reasonable way to gauge the tone of a situation.

This situation, it seemed, would be _down-to-business_.

"Welcome," the general said, then gestured as he continued, "I'm General Hammond. Colonel O'Neill, Major Carter, Teal'c, and Daniel Jackson."

"This is Marnon," the woman said, and, to Daniel's chagrin, it was only then that he realized there was another, male Tok'ra who'd come through with her, holding a box. "You may call me Anise."

"Anise," Daniel repeated, reminded of his parents' name for a strongly-flavored seed used in some of the most intoxicating drinks back home. He couldn't remember what it was called or what it meant, though surely this Tok'ra was using the Goa'uld meaning of the word rather than the Latinate one (regardless of how aptly the Romantic etymology might fit)...

She turned to him. "It means 'noble strength,'" she said coolly.

"I'm Daniel," he said before he could remember he'd already been introduced. "It means 'God is my judge.'"

Anise seemed surprised, but then nodded in his direction with a small smile. Daniel felt himself trying to smile back. Jack gave him a look, then told Anise, "I'm Jack. It means..." He paused.

"Gift of God," Daniel provided, thinking of the full name, Jonathan, that Jack almost never used. Then Jack turned to stare at him, which made him realize that this was not something he should have told Jack, ever, _ever_ , because then--

"Yes," Jack said brightly, turning back to the Tok'ra. "I am God's gift."

Sam cleared her throat. "So, Anise, Marnon," she said, matching the Tok'ra's neutral tone, "how can we help you? I assume there's something in that box."

"Inside this box are devices discovered after many years of searching," Anise said. "I anticipate that we can learn much more concerning them in collaboration with the Tau'ri."

"Why don't we take this into the briefing room," General Hammond said, gesturing them down the ramp and toward the side door.

Daniel's position put him at the back of the procession, so he waited until Anise and Marnon had followed the general out. Teal'c followed them, but before Sam did, she turned back and gave Daniel a look that he didn't have time to figure out. He was pretty sure Jack would have gotten the same look, too, except that he was her commanding officer, which meant that Jack turned around and smirked at Daniel, too. Daniel sighed and trailed after everyone into the briefing room.

Once they'd settled around the table, Anise opened the box that Marnon had brought and bent over slightly to pull its contents out. Her dress was very tight. Daniel swallowed and forced himself to stare at her hands instead of anything else. "These armbands were recently discovered among some ancient ruins on a remote planet," she said.

Daniel leaned forward to see her pass around a vambrace, made to guard a human-sized forearm, with what looked like writing on it. "Those symbols," he said as Jack looked it over. "They don't look Goa'uld, or like any Tau'ri writing I've ever seen. May I...?"

Jack passed it to Sam, who held it out so they could look at it together.

"The language belongs to a race called the Ataniks," Anise explained. "Their existence and demise predates the Goa'uld."

Sam took the armband from him completely. "Ataniks," she repeated. "I think Jolinar knew about these. They're supposed to give the wearer incredible speed and strength, right?" Daniel looked up in interest.

"Yes," Anise confirmed. "Many thought it was just a myth. Still, the Goa'uld and the Tok'ra have both sought these devices for some time. The Tok'ra were very excited when I found them."

" _You_ found them?" Jack said. Daniel found his eyes straying to the parts of her clothing that seemed impractical for going anywhere into the field to find artifacts and quickly looked away.

In explanation, she said, "My area of expertise is ancient cultures."

"Oh, mine too!" Daniel said, looking up.

Anise turned to him curiously. "I see." Jack turned around and gave Daniel another _look_. Daniel closed his mouth. "We hoped the devices would provide our operatives with a great new physical advantage in the fight against the Goa'uld."

"However...?" Jack prompted.

In answer, Anise took the armband back and started to fasten it onto her own arm. As soon as she let go, it sprang loose again. "To the best of our knowledge," she said, laying it back on the table, "the devices should work. However, something causes them to reject the Tok'ra physiology."

"Your symbiote," Teal'c guessed.

"That is a likely assumption."

"Then the device will most likely be ineffective on me, as well," he pointed out.

"Yes," she said, nodding, "which is why I brought only two. I apologize, Daniel Jackson. I had not realized SG-1 had gained a third human member. If the experiment goes well, I can bring another to collect more data."

Daniel opened his mouth, then closed it. The last times he'd interacted with the Tok'ra, they'd probably assumed he was only acting as Skaara's brother or a temporary consultant to SG-1. Even the initial treaty negotiations with the Tok'ra had been started by SG-1 while he'd been at the Alpha Site. "Incredible speed and strength," he sighed.

"In the interests of the Tok'ra-human alliance, I expected you to cooperate," Anise said. "I would like to begin human trial experiments immediately."

Jack raised his eyebrows. "What's the rush?" he asked.

"If you are not willing to trust us and participate," she said coolly, putting the armband back into her box, "I will find human subjects on another planet."

Considering that the Tok'ra had supposedly never worked with unblended humans before the Tau'ri, except on rare occasion to recruit a host in secret, Daniel wondered what their relationship was with those human subjects on another planet and whether Anise saw the Tau'ri the same way. 'Subject' was an odd word to use for an ally.

The general's eyes flickered toward Jack, who seemed to be holding back another angry response about the Tok'ra but said only, "Fine."

...x...

"Do you know where Jack is?" Daniel asked, walking in to find Sam examining the fastening mechanism of the second, yet-unused Atanik armband. They'd decided to start with one test subject--Jack--and try the other only if that one worked first.

"He went to the gym with Teal'c," she said. "They thought it would be easier to notice any increase in strength or speed that way. You know, I still don't know exactly what this does. I can't detect odd energy readings or even figure out how it confers anything to the wearer at all. I'm thinking that once it locks, there could be a transdermal exchange of some signal--a chemical, maybe, although where it would be stored..."

Daniel passed a glance over the device but couldn't see anything that Sam might have missed. "You don't think, uh...is it possible it's the Goa'uld _protein_ that stops the Tok'ra from using them and not the symbiote itself?"

Sam raised her eyebrows. "You're just hoping it won't work for me so you get to try it."

"A little bit," Daniel said sheepishly. "Although...I suppose if it's just a matter of the protein, then Teal'c will get it first. Jaffa don't have the Goa'uld protein in their blood, do they?"

"Nope--at least, not the one we've identified. Their blood doesn't mix with their symbiotes'; there's an exchange of some proteins, fluids, and other chemical and electrical signals, but with very high specificity. There seems to be an affinity barrier that prevents the Goa'uld marker protein from getting through, and larval incubation doesn't require passing a transgene to the Jaffa that way that blending requires transduction of the host."

"Right," Daniel said, thinking she could have just said 'no,' because all he'd caught of the rest of that was ' _their blood doesn't mix_.' "Um...can I see the armband for a minute?" Sam looked suspicious, so he rolled his eyes and explained, "I'm not going to put it on. Anise lent me her notes on the Ataniks and their language--I just want to copy down the writing on the bands."

"Sure," she said, handing it over. As he started to transcribe the symbols into his notebook, she pointed out, "You know, you could always just ask Anise what it says."

Daniel stopped. "I guess I could," he said, feeling stupid. "I don't know why I didn't think of that. I'll ask her when she's done analyzing Jack's biodata."

"You do that," she said, taking the armband back. "So...what do you think of her?"

"Her host, Freya, likes writing by hand," he said, holding up Freya's notebook. It wasn't a big thing, but he liked the little reminders that the Tok'ra were influenced by their hosts, even in cases when the symbiote usually took the reins. "And she studies ancient cultures. Isn't that interesting, given that they all possess genetic memory of their history--that there are people like her who deliberately study the past just like humans do?"

"Hm," Sam said neutrally, fiddling with the microscope.

"In fact," Daniel said, watching her work, "we were talking, and...do you remember that big necklace she was wearing when she arrived?"

"Hard to miss."

"It's just an ornament, of course, but she calls it Brisingamen." Sam looked confused, so he explained, "That's the necklace worn by the goddess Freya. It's a Norse mythology joke. I thought it was funny."

"Ah," Sam said, changing the lens on her microscope. "So she's a goddess."

"Goddess of love, beauty, fertility," Daniel said. "And, uh...childbirth, things like that."

"Like Hathor."

"Um...a little, I guess. And if you consider that anise is an ingredient in alcoholic drinks like absinthe, I guess you could say--"

"Absinthe," Sam echoed. "So beauty, sex, and mind-altering drugs."

"Is it mind-altering?"

"It's alcohol, Daniel."

"Well...I mean, the goddess thing is just the...the lore, obviously. And her name. I'm not saying the woman downstairs is one of the Vanir. We were talking about etymologies and it came up." Daniel frowned when she huffed softly, adjusting the focus dial. "What?"

Sam gave him a look that he could only describe as disapproving. "You were ogling her pretty good back there. Practically falling over yourself to impress her."

Daniel felt his face heat. "Sam," he protested. "No, it's not...I wasn't _falling over_ myself. Or ogling. I just...well, it would help if she wore more clothes," he admitted. Sam's eyebrows shot upward. "It's impractical, that's all," he muttered, reddening further. "I mean, you wouldn't wear something like that to visit your father."

Sam coughed. "My... _father_?"

"No, I-I mean--because he's...he lives with the Tok'ra! You wouldn't wear...you..." And now he was picturing Sam in Anise's outfit, which was an image that was...unexpectedly, not horrifying at all, which was a bit frightening in itself and not something he wanted to think about while they were in the middle of a Tok'ra experiment. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to erase the image.

"Oh, Daniel," she said. He opened one eye to peek at her and she laughed at him. "And to think I sometimes forget you're a seventeen-year-old boy."

Daniel's cheeks burned hotter. "It's--no. No! Sam. But--her _research_...and...the things she studies. It's really..."

"I've got a brother," she said knowingly. "I know what guys are like."

"Well, your brother wasn't picturing you in Anise's clothes," Daniel said. Sam's eyes widened. "Not," he said feebly, horrified that that had come out of his mouth, "that _I'm_... You brought it up!"

"I did not," she said, starting to blush as well.

"Okay, _I_ brought it up," Daniel said, "but you were asking, and I wasn't thinking about _anything_ until you asked."

"Okay," she said.

"I'm not, now," he promised, thoroughly mortified. " _Gods_ , no, Sam, that's horrible. Not that you're horrible." _Yi shay_ , why couldn't someone try to invade Earth right now and make him stop talking? "Just--it's very disrespectful, of course, and usually Tok'ra wear _clothes_ , so I don't, uh...normally...I wouldn't _ever_ even _think_ \--"

"Yeah," she said. She cleared her throat. "Good."

"I'm going to check on Jack," he said firmly, because his face was in danger of bursting into flames. He snatched up the notebook and fled, thinking that Jack had been right: the Tok'ra always brought all sorts of trouble with them.

...x...

Neither Jack nor Teal'c was in the gym when Daniel wandered in, having cooled down enough to talk and act like a reasonable person. "O'Neill?" Major Ferretti said when he asked. "Yeah--he punched Teal'c out. Carried him to the infirmary."

There were so many things wrong with that sentence that Daniel could only say, "What?"

"Yeah, I know," Ferretti said, jerking a thumb toward the door. "Seriously, check the infirmary."

Daniel reached the infirmary just as Jack was telling a somewhat groggy-looking Teal'c, "I'm really sorry."

Teal'c was sitting on the side of a bed, scowling as Jack stood nearby and took a bite of what looked like an energy bar. "You are not," the Jaffa said flatly.

Jack chewed a few times, then told Janet and Anise, "He's right about that."

Daniel raised his eyebrows, but it was probably a joke. Teal'c was fine, after all, and if Daniel were to be honest, he'd be feeling a little triumphant, too, if he ever managed to land a hit that solid on Teal'c. "So the armband works?" he said, approaching the bed and looking surreptitiously at Teal'c to make sure he seemed unhurt.

"Colonel, your strength is five times that of a normal human," Anise said absently, jotting a few notes.

"So, no improvement," Jack quipped. Daniel rolled his eyes and saw Janet doing the same.

"It is time to increase the number of human subjects," Anise said.

Janet looked like she wanted to say something, but then stopped and instead went to the phone. Daniel almost asked if he could be the other human subject, but managed to restrain himself.

"Teal'c?" he asked as Jack used his food wrapper to test his throwing accuracy.

"I am fine," Teal'c said, though there was still an undercurrent of unhappiness. Daniel supposed part of it was his pride, but a lot of it probably had to do with just how gleeful Jack seemed.

Daniel had the sudden thought that, if these armbands worked and if he didn't get one, too, he'd be closer to Teal'c in physical ability than to anyone else on the team. Since Teal'c was several times stronger than he was, this was not an encouraging thought. He sighed and sat down next to Teal'c to wait for Sam.

...x...

Robert glanced over at him from the other desk and said, "You know, even you can't learn the Atanik language in the next hour."

"I know," Daniel said. "I'm just reading through the notes Anise took on their civilization--that part's written in Goa'uld." Of course, if he'd had an armband, he'd have been able to read the entire thing and learn the language documented within in about a minute. Sighing in frustration, he said, "Did you see how fast Jack could read?"

"Yep," Robert said, not looking up.

"It was _really_ fast."

"Yeah."

"I bet he came in here just to show off."

"Actually, I think he came in here to steal your chocolate."

Frowning, Daniel opened a drawer to find that he was missing a bar from the small stash of snacks he kept there for long shifts. "What? But how...when did he... _what_?"

"He was distracting you with the speed-reading," Robert explained.

Daniel fumed quietly and returned to his slow-reading.

A moment later, Robert said, "You know what I think? We should rotate these armbands among the personnel for a couple of days at a time. Then--"

"We could all read every book on base in that time," Daniel said wistfully. "And learn practically every language possible, and figure out every piece of unidentified technology in the labs without even being afraid of being hurt very badly if something backfired...oh, wow..."

"Actually," Robert said, looking at him askance, "I was going to say that we could send people out and crush the Goa'uld, but, sure, you could read, too. Seriously, Daniel? How am _I_ the one saying that?"

"Oh. Right." At times like this, when he'd just watched Sam happily make new revelations about wormhole physics in the space of an hour, Daniel could almost forget that he wasn't here just to study.

"Guess we'll have to wait until after the experiment's done, though. There could still be negative side effects."

Daniel nodded in acknowledgement. Anise said that the armbands' inscription read, ' _great power_.' He supposed that, when someone was physically unstoppable by most means, testing was an important step. Even now, only hours after putting the armband on, Jack had accidentally dented Daniel's desk by tapping his fingers against it and didn't seem to have noticed, too occupied in showing off his speed-reading.

"Jack doesn't even like to read most of the time," Daniel grumbled.

"It's okay, Daniel," Robert said, but he was rolling his eyes as he said it.

XXXXX

**_14 September 2000; SGC; 1600 hrs_ **

As it was, it took him several hours, not minutes, to skim through Anise's notes on the Ataniks and barely begin to read about the language. Even then, it seemed rather incomplete.

"Anise..." Daniel said, walking toward her and noticing only belatedly that she was talking to Janet and the general. "I'm sorry, sir, I didn't mean to interrupt."

As it turned out, the gathering was rather more tense than he'd realized, and it took a moment for General Hammond to stop scowling at Anise. Eventually, he turned away from the Tok'ra and said, "What is it, Mr. Jackson?"

"Uh...I just have some questions about these notes on the Ataniks," Daniel said, holding out Anise's notebook.

"And?"

A little surprised that no one was telling him to come back later when he wasn't interrupting a meeting, Daniel said, "Uh...well, since Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter are both experiencing _huge_ improvements in everything--"

"Except health," Janet said frostily.

Daniel stopped. "What?"

"Dr. Fraiser is overreacting," Anise said.

He glanced over his shoulder toward the infirmary, where he could just barely see both Sam and Jack perched on beds. They looked healthy enough, but he'd learned years ago to trust Janet when she said things like that. "Mr. Jackson," the general prompted impatiently.

Turning back to them, Daniel said, "I'm just wondering why the Ataniks died out if these armbands gave them such an incredible advantage over their enemies in every way with no disadvantages. Your notes say they became extinct over a period of approximately one hundred years or less, but you don't mention why. The time period suggests they faced a sudden, serious issue, but it's too gradual for something like a natural disaster when they could have just 'gated to a new planet."

As General Hammond and Janet stared at the Tok'ra from both sides, Anise said, "We have never determined the cause of the fall of the Ataniks. However, it is unlikely that the armbands are at fault when we consider the number of factors we do not understand about their civilization."

"Well, okay, but isn't a lack of understanding grounds for further study before beginning human trials?" Daniel said.

"I do not believe there is anything else that could be learned without human trials," she said. "The Tok'ra have studied them extensively."

"Extensively--since you just recently found them, you mean," Janet said. "Is there a reason you won't let us participate in the research as anything other than your subjects? What's the rush, anyway?"

The general narrowed his eyes. "That's a good question," he said. "What _is_ the rush? And don't give me that bunk again about giving these to your other human allies," he added when Anise opened her mouth to answer. "You don't _have_ other human allies--you didn't even think unblended humans could be useful to you when we made contact with you a couple of years back. Or did you mean you only use humans as test subjects?"

"Of course not, General," Anise said. "But the suggestion that these devices are harming your personnel is poorly supported, while we have collected incredible data clearly demonstrating their positive effects."

"I wouldn't say poorly supported," Janet countered. "These armbands have released a virus into Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter's systems--"

"The virus is only a carrier," Anise insisted as Daniel's eyes widened. "It is the armbands' method of accessing human physiology."

"According to Anise's _speculation_ ," Janet said. "What I'm _seeing_ is elevated body temperatures and a dangerous amount of adrenaline and endorphins in Major Carter's blood. Once I complete blood work on Colonel O'Neill, I am confident it will show the same. Until we know more about the physical effects of this virus, I say we remove them and we run more tests to make sure that these changes are not permanent or damaging."

"General," Anise protested, but there was no help from that quarter.

"No, I'm sorry," the general said. "If there's one thing I've learned in my time here, it's that there's nothing wrong with a little prudence when dealing with alien devices."

Daniel followed them into the infirmary and leaned back against the wall, folding his arms as Jack and Sam both hopped down from their beds.

"Based on Dr. Fraiser's recommendations," the general told them, "I've decided to stop the experiment temporarily."

"What?" Sam said.

"Why?" Jack said.

"I believe the armbands may be having a narcotic effect," Janet said. "It's just a precaution."

"We'd like to get a better read on exactly what these things are doing to you," the general said. "Please take the armbands off."

"But," Sam said, almost in a whine. "General..."

"I'd rather not do that, sir," Jack said.

Daniel narrowed his eyes, studying them both. Jack, perhaps, might protest to show that he was annoyed, but Sam would normally have pulled the armband off when ordered. If she'd had an objection, she'd have stood at attention and said it respectfully. Janet was right; something was wrong.

Sure enough, the general said, more firmly, "Are you refusing to comply with a direct order?"

Neither of them moved for a few moments, and it suddenly occurred to Daniel that, should they choose to resist, no one here could stop them. Fortunately, Jack raised his arm, still looking annoyed, and reached for the catch on the armband. Sam followed suit. Daniel relaxed.

Except...

"Ah...General?" Jack said, still tugging on the device.

"Colonel?" the general said.

Jack lowered his eyebrows, his expression confused. "Having a hard time complying, sir."

Daniel straightened from where he'd been standing against the wall to see Sam look up in alarm. "I can't..." she said, then made a face and strained her fingers harder, as if trying to rip it apart by brute force. "This mechanism isn't releasing. And I can't even...what is this material, anyway?"

"Ah, well," Jack said, giving up. "Looks like they're there to stay."

When General Hammond looked suspicious, Sam added, "We really can't get them off, sir." Now that the fact had been established, however, she didn't look too unhappy about it.

"General," Janet said stiffly, glaring at Anise,  "I'd like to see them in the lab and try to get those armbands off."

"Colonel O'Neill, Major Carter," the general said, "follow Dr. Fraiser and comply with any and all of her orders. Is that understood?"

Both of them seemed a little disappointed, but Jack said, "Yes, sir." As they all began to follow Janet out of the room, Jack added to Daniel, "Ah, stop scowling so hard, Danny. Your face'll get stuck that way," and clapped a hand on Daniel's back.

The next thing Daniel knew, he was flying forward and slamming into the doorframe on the way to the floor. He landed hard, almost before he even registered that he'd been hit.

"Oh, god," Jack's voice sounded from somewhere overhead.

"Get away from him, Colonel," Janet snapped. A hand touched his back. "Daniel?"

Daniel rolled over with a wince, clutching his shoulder where he'd hit the wall while his back felt like a Jaffa had punched him. Jack had frozen halfway down as if to help him up while Sam looked stunned. "Ow," he said, mostly because he'd been too winded to say it earlier. He rubbed his arm and decided he was going to be hitting Jack as hard as he could, just as soon as the man stopped being ridiculously strong.

"I didn't--are you okay?" Jack said, backing off.

" _Danny?_ " he said incredulously in response. "Jack!"

"I want those armbands _off_ ," the general growled, stabbing a finger in the direction of the labs, "before you put any other members of your own team in the infirmary!"

Jack and Sam slunk off quietly.

"I'm okay," Daniel told Janet as he sat up carefully, though his shoulder was mostly numb.

"Does anything feel broken?" she said. With some help from his other hand, he rolled the shoulder in a small circle with more effort than he wanted to admit, at which point it vigorously stopped feeling numb. "Get that shoulder examined," she ordered, helping him to his feet. "I'll be back to check on you--"

"It's okay, Janet," he said. "Just get the armbands off. Please." With a scowl in Anise's direction, he made his way back inside toward a nurse with a sense of disappointment. He'd thought he would like Anise, too, as a scientist first rather than as a spy or operative like most of the Tok'ra they'd met.

XXXXX

**_14 September 2000; SGC; 1900 hrs_ **

Later, when Daniel was tired of holding an icepack to his shoulder (because he couldn't do any work with a hand occupied like that), Teal'c let him stop and accompanied him to the briefing room, where Anise was alone and still reading over Jack and Sam's biodata.

"So," Daniel said, making her look up and notice them, "you said our suspicions were poorly supported."

"Yes," Anise said, going back to work. "They are based not on specific evidence but rather on observations that have no clear connection to your hypothesis."

"Whereas," he pressed, annoyed, " _you_ haven't proposed a hypothesis at all."

"That is untrue, Daniel Jackson. All that I have suggested thus far--that the armbands would cause an increase in the wearer's abilities--has been true."

"I mean about getting the armbands off," he clarified.

She pursed her lips. "That may require more work," she said, and went back to her computer.

"Why didn't you tell us right away about the virus?" Daniel said angrily. "And concealing other bits of data--you told me the armbands said 'great power.'"

Anise paused in her work. "Yes."

" _'With great power comes great responsibility and the ability to effect great consequences_ ,'" he quoted. "Did you leave all of that out intentionally, or did you just think I wouldn't be able to work out a single sentence for myself?"

"In fact," she said, actually looking the closest to pleased or interested that he'd seen her look so far, "I was attempting to determine whether you would be able to read it on your own. I was not aware before that there were Tau'ri with such interest in knowledge."

Forcing himself to remain unmoved by what was praise and insult all at once, he said, "I'm not your test subject. And you should know that a lot of other people who might have helped study the armbands are among those of us humans with an interest in knowledge. Should we take today as a demonstration of how the Tok'ra plan to share information with us?"

Anise finally put down her data pad and looked at the two of them standing before her. "We cannot conclude that the virus will cause any physical damage, and you are making the assumption that the phrase written on the armbands applies to my experiment, while it was in fact simply a statement made by the Ataniks about their warriors."

"Well, I was going to ask the Ataniks about that," Daniel said, "but they're dead, which is what concerns me."

Finally, Teal'c spoke up to say, "What you call 'your experiment,' Anise, is nothing less than the lives of our friends."

Unfazed, she said, "It is also part of the cooperation expected by the Tok'ra High Council as part of our alliance."

"Yes, the alliance," Daniel said, jumping on her words. "It's interesting that you should bring that up. As you may know, Teal'c and I have been heavily involved in drafting of the treaty that's currently in negotiations. In fact, if anything happens to Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter, the two of us are the ones the Tok'ra will have to deal with in order to seal any alliance between us."

Then he held his breath.

Anise looked from Daniel to Teal'c standing unmoving beside him. "Are you threatening me, Mr. Jackson?"

"Are you threatening the lives of our friends?" Teal'c said. "If you are not, as you claim, then there is no cause for concern."

She closed her eyes, and when she spoke again, it was through Freya, her human host. "Please," she said gently, "excuse the scientist in Anise--"

"Being a scientist isn't something you use as an _excuse_ ," Daniel snapped.

"But perhaps the Tok'ra are not overly concerned with unblended human lives," Teal'c said.

Freya looked surprised. "Of course we are. It is simply that there was no other way to test the devices without seeking help from you, our human allies."

"You couldn't have given _us_ some time to study the devices first, or included our medical experts in your data analysis?" Daniel said. "And please don't say the Tau'ri couldn't possibly find anything that you hadn't found already."

"Daniel," Freya said, "we did believe this was the best way to proceed, that we had reached the limits of our understanding without practical experimentation--there was no malice in our actions. You must admit the Tok'ra have done much for your people, as well."

Daniel nodded. "I haven't forgotten how you once sent our people to gather information from Sokar, since you'd otherwise have had to risk Tok'ra lives to do it."

"And in that instance," she pointed out, "it was Tok'ra knowledge, technology, and weaponry that completed the mission."

"Nearly at the cost of our lives," Teal'c reminded her. "We were saved by human actions."

"We wouldn't take full credit for that operation," Daniel said, then steeled himself. "But keep in mind that if more emergencies unexpectedly require the Tok'ra to use their human allies as subjects and not partners before the final treaty negotiations, it won't be seen in a good light by the people who need to approve this alliance."

She raised her eyebrows. "We still do not know that your friends are in any danger. Both of you understand what is at stake. You would risk a valuable relationship between our peoples because of something we did not know--something we _could_ not have known?"

"Daniel Jackson was not speaking of the two of us," Teal'c said. "If you underestimate the respect afforded Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter by this command and its leaders, you will indeed be unpleasantly surprised."

"You've left the only two Tau'ri members of our flagship team incapacitated--" Daniel started.

"They are not incapacit--" Freya started.

"--and whatever Teal'c and I think of the Tok'ra, I don't think a Jaffa and a seventeen-year-old Abydon will have much influence on the treaty's approval as far as our leaders are concerned. On the other hand, there are influential people here who'd be...unhappy if you harmed Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter."

"You _are_ threatening the alliance," she said, looking honestly surprised.

"We're warning you that you'd better be doing everything you can to remove those armbands," Daniel said. "I don't care what results you want to see as a scientist. The experiment is over."

When they turned to leave, Anise said, "You cannot deny the positive effect these armbands could have on the efforts in this war--for _both_ of us. The High Council will be displeased to hear those sentiments about Tok'ra-Tau'ri relations, Mr. Jackson."

"You should advise the High Council to cease thinking like the Goa'uld," Teal'c said, unmoved by her affronted expression. "The Tau'ri are not their inferiors. If the Tok'ra forget that, they will not be pleased with the results."

"You all agreed to my experiment," Anise pointed out.

"We weren't able to give informed consent," Daniel countered, "because you failed to _inform_ us of the risks."

"You have lost control of your experiment," Teal'c said before she could answer. "If you can disagree, take the armbands off now. For if any harm comes to our friends, we will hold the Tok'ra responsible."

...x...

As they left her hearing range, Daniel let out a breath and leaned against a wall in the corridor. "I don't want to do that again," he said.

Teal'c raised an eyebrow.

"Were we just...trying to bully her?" Daniel asked uneasily. "It felt like we were."

"Indeed," Teal'c said.

"Oh," Daniel said, chewing his lip. "As long as we're clear." He snuck a glance over at his friend, but Teal'c seemed unperturbed. Jaffa society was built heavily on intimidation and strength, after all. Teal'c himself had surely climbed the ranks that way in Apophis's army to have become First Prime from the young Jaffa exiled from the wrong planet whose father had failed the wrong Goa'uld. "Anise and Freya have a good point."

"They have several."

Daniel sighed. "I just mean... Let's, uh...let's not do that too much, okay?" he said. Jack and Sam could toss people around now because they were stronger; Daniel wasn't sure how much he wanted to gang up on Anise and bully from the verbal side, either, especially since he wasn't sure who had the leverage in this game.

But Teal'c said only, "If Anise requires further motivation to find a way to remove the armbands, I will provide as much as necessary."

"Right," Daniel said, rubbing his arm. "But Janet said they've tried everything short of amputating Jack and Sam's arms to remove the bands. I don't know how much we can expect from Anise. I think she's as lost as we are."

"We can expect," Teal'c said firmly, "that she will finish what she began. She said that she expected us to trust her, and she must show that she is worthy of that trust. If we are to form an alliance with the Tok'ra, we cannot begin in a position of weakness. They may take advantage of humans and Jaffa if we allow them--it is in their nature."

"The Tok'ra are different from the Goa'uld, Teal'c."

"That remains to be seen."

Daniel shook his head. "No, Teal'c; they _are_. Freya was right--they've done a lot for our side. And for _us_ specifically."

Teal'c looked down at him. "That does not make them different. It only means that they and the System Lords are on opposing sides."

"And what if they said _you_ weren't any different from other Jaffa, except that you're on a different side?"

"Then they would be correct."

"Well...okay," Daniel said, because that was true, at least in some ways. "Still, their philosophy about hosts says a lot for their character." Except, of course, when they were desperate, like Jolinar, in which case they returned to acting like Goa'uld again. He wondered if they were desperate about something this time, too, that they were in such a hurry to start testing.

"If they are indeed different," Teal'c said evenly, "then let them show it."

Daniel supposed that was fair. He liked Martouf well enough, and Jacob and Selmak, but in general, he liked the idea of the Tok'ra more than he liked the Tok'ra themselves.

"Dr. Fraiser believes that the lives of O'Neill and Major Carter are in significant danger," Teal'c added more quietly. "We need Anise's cooperation in order to end this."

"Yeah," Daniel said, because he'd seen firsthand how genuinely worried Janet was, even beyond her irritation with Anise. "I understand."

XXXXX

**_15 September 2000; Gymnasium, SGC; 0730 hrs_ **

"Again," Teal'c said.

Daniel massaged his bruised shoulder and returned to stretching. "Jack knocked you out yesterday," he complained tightly. "How come you're fine already?"

"I am Jaffa," Teal'c said simply, bracing him with one hand and gently rotating his arm back with the other.

"Yeah, yeah-- _ow_ , wait," Daniel said as he felt a cramp starting to constrict his shoulder. Teal'c paused, then continued, more slowly, as Daniel breathed evenly and tried to relax.

"You should have gone immediately to the infirmary upon waking," Teal'c chided.

Daniel shook his head. "No, it just tightened overnight. It's okay." Teal'c gave him a stern look. "I have full range of movement. I know what a bruise feels like," he pointed out, reclaiming his arm. "Thanks for helping me loosen it."

"Hey, guys," Jack said brightly from the door. "Whatcha doin'?"

Teal'c glowered at him.

"What?" Jack said, then zipped inside without seeming to have moved at all. How was it possible to move that fast? "Ah, don't give me that look, T. I said I was sorry."

"Aren't you defying a direct order from General Hammond by being out of quarantine?" Daniel said. "And where's Sam?"

"She went looking for food," Jack said, waving a hand unconcernedly.

"The last time you went looking for food, the two of you injured seven people at O'Malley's, and that was _after_ you put Sergeant Siler in the infirmary."

"Was it seven? I didn't count."

"You know what you sound like, Jack?" Daniel said, as irritated as he was concerned by now.

Jack disappeared in a rush of wind.

"Never mind," Daniel sighed.

Teal'c made a low, growling sound in his throat but kept his expression neutral as he handed Daniel a _bashaak_ staff. "The first sequences. Very slowly--and hold each movement to the fullest extent that you can stretch. Stop if you feel the pain worsen. Begin."

...x...

When they headed out together from the locker room, they met an airman who stopped them and said General Hammond was looking for them.

They found him in his office with Anise. "It seems," the general said, his tone very controlled, "that the Tok'ra High Council just happened to receive information about a new battleship being built by Apophis. Since they've been unable to disable it themselves, and since they coincidentally received this intelligence at the same time that Anise was running her experiment, they'd like Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter to destroy it for them."

Daniel sucked in a breath. Anise was looking at the desk. "I can't believe this," he said. "I cannot _believe_ you would do this!"

It was Freya in control this time, and she held out a placating hand. "This was not the original intention of--"

"It's funny how these _unexpected emergencies_ just keep coming up at the perfect time, isn't it?" he said, outraged.

"I assure you," she insisted, "Anise and I did not know of this when we first came here, but you understand that Apophis is rapidly gaining power over the System Lords. If he is allowed to complete this battleship, it will assure his dominance over the galaxy."

Daniel glanced at Teal'c and the general, who made no move to silence his words but were also not joining in.

"Anise--Freya--get out of my office," the general said. "Mr. Jackson, SG-14 is preparing right now to leave for the next stage of treaty negotiations with the Tok'ra. Since the rest of SG-1 is currently impaired, I'd like you to escort them to Vorash."

Freya had paused on her way out. Daniel's gaze flicked to her, then back to the general. "Sir?"

"Dr. Fraiser tells me that Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter's health is in grave danger," the general went on, "and that their judgment is suffering the same way as it would if they had been unknowingly drugged."

"General," Freya started again, turning around.

"I've run out of patience for this," the general said over her. "This cannot go on." Daniel swallowed and forced down a spike of panic, not knowing just what he was expected to do. "I'd like you to pass on a message for me."

"Sir?" Daniel repeated. The general gave him a small nod, and he started to realize that this was a political maneuver with respect to the future more than anything else. As much as he would have preferred to leave the political maneuverings to the diplomats, especially when his team might be _dying_...he would be useless to them on base at the moment. His allegiance was to the SGC as well as to SG-1. "What exactly would you like me to say?"

"Close the door, son," the general said. "Freya, _out_."

"Daniel--" Freya said, even as she backed the rest of the way out. Daniel closed the door.

Once they were alone, the general said, "Teal'c, you stay. I need your opinion on the intelligence they gave us. Mr. Jackson, this'll only take a minute and you leave in ten. Listen carefully."


	3. With Great Power

**_15 September 2000; Isolation Room, SGC; 1100 hrs_ **

Jack had never felt so incredibly alive.

He was a realistic guy--he knew he was a man past his prime on a team with a Jaffa First Prime, a sharpshooting genius about five times smarter than himself, and another genius who was just about to _enter_ his physical prime. But now...now, he was pretty sure he could take on the Goa'uld and their armies even without weapons and _win_. If he missed a couple, Carter could type up her book with one hand and finish off the rest with the other.

Which was pretty sweet.

It was a struggle not to run ahead of the SFs as they were led toward lock-up. How had he ever stood the boredom of walking this slowly all the time? Frankly, he thought it was pretty controlled of him and Carter to stay at this snail's pace. Who said their judgment was impaired?

Well, okay, so he did sneak off on the way down, but it was just once to the commissary, and he was really hungry. No one noticed, anyway, except Carter, who took two of his cookies.

"Dismissed," he told the SFs once they'd arrived at their isolation room. Carter was already heading for the computer on the table. Jack showed his impressive restraint again by waiting for the door to close before joining her. "Let's have a look," he said.

By then, she was already in the system and looking at an image of Apophis' new ship, schematics rolling onto the screen once the computer caught up to her typing. His 2IC was the best.

"The 'gate will be heavily guarded," she said, "but we should be able to handle them. Wormhole physics dictates that you exit at the same velocity that you enter. They'll never know what hit them."

"We just have to run in really fast," he summarized. Ooh--he'd grabbed a bar of chocolate in the commissary. He opened it and took a bite.

"Exactly," she said. "The facility, however, will be more of a challenge."

Jack took a seat on the chair, propping his feet up on the table. "Can't we just zip in, plant C-4, and zip out?"

Carter shook her head. "Won't do it, sir. The power core of the ship is completely sealed in trinium. That's what we have to take out...hang on. The power core is linked directly to some kind of liquid cooling system that's based in the facility. These pipes lead into it."

"So," he amended, "we zip in, blow the pipes, and zip out?"

Still looking at the schematics, she nodded. "The core will overheat and explode. The only problem is there are force shields protecting"--she pointed to the screen--"this restricted area."

"Those aren't the ones you can pass through if you move slowly enough, are they?" he asked.

"Uh...no, sir," she said, wearing her ' _are you stupid, sir?_ ' expression.

"That'd be a bad shield," he acknowledged.

"These aren't dependent on kinetic energy. They operate on a frequency oscillation principle, and..." She stopped.

"And..." Jack said. "That's...bad?"

"Actually, no, sir, it's not," she said. "If we're moving _fast_ enough, theoretically we should be able to see the oscillation interval and run right through."

Jack would freely admit he didn't know what she'd just said. Something about oscillating and moving fast, but he was pretty sure he could move fast enough to oscillate as frequently as they needed, so he shrugged and said, "We'll need snacks."

XXXXX

**_15 September 2000; General Hammond's Office, SGC; 1100 hrs_ **

Teal'c turned General Hammond's computer around to examine the ship depicted on the display.

"So you think we have a problem here?" General Hammond asked.

This was no simple battleship. This was an entirely new class of _hatak_ vessel. Even without the rest of the plans, Teal'c could see that there had been improvements made to the section that housed the hyperdrive and other controls. The docking bays were better constructed, and a common flaw in _hatak_ weapons systems seemed to have been repaired in this new design. He had no doubt that there was also much more that was not immediately visible.

"This new vessel has several advancements over the Goa'uld motherships we have previously engaged in battle," he confirmed grimly. "We must stop its completion."

"I can't send the rest of SG-1 on such a dangerous mission knowing their judgment is impaired," General Hammond said. He appeared very frustrated. Teal'c understood the sentiment intimately and planned to make that clear to O'Neill and Major Carter as soon as it became possible.

"I will go alone, then," he said.

"According to the Tok'ra intelligence," General Hammond said, "the 'gate on that planet is heavily guarded. I doubt very much even you could make it through."

Teal'c reexamined the image and acknowledged silently that such a forthright attack would be impossible. However... "We must not allow Apophis to complete this vessel."

"Let's say I agree, Teal'c. Prove to me it isn't a suicide mission."

Standing, he bowed to his superior and left the room to seek a plausible way in which to complete the mission. It was still unbelievable to Teal'c, at times, that General Hammond would risk such a crucial mission to protect his men's lives. Knowing that, Teal'c would work all the harder.

Almost immediately, however, alarms began to sound, and he whirled around toward the embarkation room, sliding under a blast door just before it slammed shut. Teal'c did not often have cause to wish that Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter were _less_ capable than they were, but as he ran through the closing side door of the embarkation room to find both of them standing on the ramp before an open wormhole, he found cause.

"O'Neill!" he called.

Colonel O'Neill turned to see him. Major Carter did not even look away from the event horizon. "Not this time, Teal'c," he said, then disappeared through the Stargate without another glance.

From above, he heard General Hammond's voice calling for a medical team and wondered what damage his friends had caused in the control room. Thinking quickly, he ran back through the door and up the stairs to the control room.

"General Hammond," Teal'c said, noticing three people unconscious on the floor while another attempted to break through whatever program Major Carter had left on the base computers. "Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter will easily defeat the Jaffa standing guard. If I leave now and remain behind them, I may be able to aid them in completing the mission and also ensure their safe return."

General Hammond looked up from where he was crouched over one of his fallen men. "Do it," he ordered. "Hurry."

XXXXX

**_15 September 2000; Vorash, SGC; 1100 hrs_ **

"So," Lieutenant Astor said, as they trudged together through the sand of the Tok'ra homeworld toward the ring platform, "I heard about those armbands Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter are wearing. Must be pretty cool to have one of those things."

"Dr. Fraiser thinks they'll both be dead soon," Daniel said. He was surprised at how calm he sounded.

All of SG-14 stopped in their tracks, amusement or envy dropping off their faces. "Wait, what?" Captain Blasdale said. "What did you just...?"

"Oh, god," Sergeant Lewis said. "Is this why--General Hammond said to be unyielding with the Tok'ra when we meet them today, and to follow your lead. That's what that was about?"

Daniel broke off from the group to walk to a boulder that he always used to remember where the rings were, then counted six, seven, eight steps in the direction of the setting sun. "This is the center of the platform," he said, pointing at his feet. "I suggest you keep your hands away from all weapons as soon as we reappear below so they don't shoot you. They'll activate the rings from their end once their security is in place."

"Jackson," Major Graham said as they took position, "I need to know what's going on."

"It's not just about SG-1," Daniel told him. "It's about not knowing whether we can trust the Tok'ra. It's..." He wondered whether or not there were Tok'ra around them--they were masters of hiding, after all--and said deliberately, "The general's having doubts about the risks of this alliance. We need to have some very frank discussions before we further our cooperation."

Graham raised his eyebrows but said, "O...kay. We'll--whoa!" He backed away as the flap of his sleeve was caught on one of the rings and they were transported below.

Daniel had hoped to see Jacob Carter's face among those greeting SG-14 but found instead Martouf, with several other Tok'ra guards near the periphery of the room.

"Martouf," he said, stepping forward, "we thought you were on a mission; I hadn't realized you were back."

"I returned only hours ago," Martouf said, nodding politely to him.

Had Martouf--a friend--known? Daniel tried to read his expression as he said, "This is SG-14: their commander, Major Graham, and Captain Blasdale, Lieutenant Astor, and Sergeant Lewis."

"It's nice to meet you," Graham said, stepping forward with a hand extended. Martouf recognized the gesture and shook his hand politely.

"Major," Martouf said. "It is good to meet you as well, and your team. Let us proceed into the meeting room. Daniel, will you be accompanying us?"

"For a while," Daniel said. "General Hammond asked me to pass on a message. I'm glad you're here, Martouf--there's something you'll want to hear yourself. Is Sam's father here?"

As he'd known it would, his choice of words made Martouf pause. "He is away. Has something happened?"

Daniel said opened his mouth, and suddenly the thrill of horror swept through him again as he remembered what Janet had told the general. He cleared his throat, and said, "Dr. Fraiser believes that, at the current rate, Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter's hearts will fail before the end of the day."

"What?" Martouf said, his eyebrows furrowing. "Why?"

Pressing on, Daniel said, "You didn't hear about the effects of your Atanik test? Right now, Major Carter and Colonel O'Neill are both exhibiting...signs of...multiple organ failure, and..." He stopped, wishing more than ever that he was back at home with his friends instead of here describing how Janet thought they were going to die. SG-14 was silent behind him now.

"But..." Martouf started, looking bewildered. "Surely this is a mistake."

There was a pause as a woman appeared in the chamber--Daniel recognized her as Ren'al, a member of the High Council--and said, "Martouf, what is the delay?"

"Councilor Ren'al," Daniel said. He straightened his back. "I was just explaining that, as we see it, the Tok'ra were unable to complete a mission, so they sent a representative to Earth, drugged Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter, and infected them with a virus without telling us, in which state their impaired judgment has already caused at least ten people to be injured, in and out of the SGC. And then you told them to complete a mission for you."

Martouf shook his head. "The timing... It must be coincidental. Daniel, you know us--"

"We do know the Tok'ra's methods pretty well," Lieutenant Astor spoke up in support. She'd never worked with the Tok'ra personally, but she trusted Daniel enough to follow his lead here.

_Unyielding_ , the general had said. He had no problems with that right now.

"You know _me_ , certainly," Martouf continued, still to Daniel. "You know I would never do something like this, and that SG-1's lives are...very important to us. I assure you we would never force General Hammond to--"

"No," Daniel agreed, biting off the word. "You just ensured first that Jack and Sam would be physically unstoppable by our personnel. You know _them_ , Martouf--do you think we don't realize the Tok'ra took advantage of their sense of duty and...and lowered inhibitions to put their lives at risk for a task your people failed to complete?"

For a moment, Martouf looked more confused than Daniel could remember ever seeing him, and Daniel almost felt bad, certain now that Martouf really didn't have a clue what was going on. Then Martouf bowed his head, and Lantash emerged. "What is it you expect us to do?"

"We don't expect anything," Daniel said bluntly. "General Hammond is considering that a relationship with the Tok'ra might be more trouble than it's worth, although SG-14 can discuss it further if you'd like. When Jacob asks, give him our condolences on our behalf and tell him what happened to his daughter."

Daniel turned and started back toward the rings, eager to go back now that he was done. He was pretty sure General Hammond had intended this largely as a bluff, but his orders were just to say his piece and let the diplomats handle the rest. He hoped he hadn't said more than could be fixed.

Before he could step onto the platform, however, the rings shot from the ceiling, and Anise stepped out.

"Mr. Jackson," Anise said, surprising him by dropping her eyes for a moment. "Martouf. Councilor Ren'al. I have...news to impart."

"What is it?" Ren'al said.

"We have uncovered the mystery of the fall of the Ataniks," Anise said. "It seems the body of the wearer of the armbands creates antibodies to the Atanik virus, neutralizing the effects and eventually releasing the mechanism. We have noted traces of antibodies in the latest data from both Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter."

_Releasing the mechanism_. Daniel found himself dizzy for a second and realized it was relief. "So it'll just wear off?" he said. She nodded. "Wait...you said this caused the _fall_ of the Ataniks?"

She nodded again. "The immunity must have spread among the warriors until they suddenly lost their enhanced abilities, perhaps even in the midst of fighting a battle."

"But my team is on base, yes?" he said, but even as he said it, he could tell it was wrong.

"They left," Anise said, "to destroy Apophis's new battleship. Your personnel were unable to stop them. We believe they are there already."

"This is that Tok'ra mission," Major Graham said, giving Daniel a questioning look. Daniel made himself nod once, and Graham turned around to Ren'al. "So the Tok'ra tricked our people into using technology that was not only mind-altering but may also physically incapacitate them in the middle of heavily-guarded enemy territory."

Anise nodded once. "That...may happen, Major, but this was a test undertaken with both of our peoples' agreement. It was not a Tok'ra trick--"

"Give us one reason to trust you," Blasdale said.

"We are at war," Ren'al said. Daniel looked to her, wishing he could read her expression _(had she known? had they planned this?)_ , but all he could see clearly was impatience. "There are risks we all take. We cannot predict the consequences of every action."

"I must return to Earth," Anise said before anyone could respond. "The data that I am continuing to collect may aid Dr. Fraiser if SG-1 is able to return."

"SG-1," Daniel repeated. "Just Major Carter and Colonel O'Neill, you mean."

"Teal'c has also gone to that planet in an attempt to recover them," Anise said.

All of them were there. A planet with the most advanced Goa'uld mothership they'd ever seen, no doubt crawling with Apophis's Jaffa. And even if they survived the assault, two of them might weaken too much to make it back, and the third would never return without them.

It wasn't until Astor shifted a step closer to Daniel and pressed a hand surreptitiously to the back of his shoulder that he realized he'd stopped breathing. He took a quiet breath and tried to push aside his panic.

"Perhaps," Martouf said, reclaiming control over his body, "we should discuss this further once we know the fate of SG-1."

"Oh, I think we have a lot to discuss with the High Council," Major Graham said. "Mr. Jackson, are you sticking around?"

Daniel shook his head, shooting Astor a grateful glance before stepping away. "No, sir, I'll go back to base. I'm sure Anise will return if we...ever hear back from my team."

"Daniel--" Martouf started, stepping forward.

Understanding more than ever why Jack hated playing politics, Daniel raised his voice so everyone in the chamber would hear and said, "The SGC is grateful to the Tok'ra and what you've accomplished. But don't expect us to accept lies or manipulation, and don't make the mistake of seeing this treaty as a way of gaining an army of lesser beings to use as cannon-fodder or test subjects. We'll sign this treaty as equals or not at all."

Without looking at anyone, Daniel joined Anise on the ring platform, and they were transported silently to the surface to return to Earth.

XXXXX

**_15 September 2000; PX9-757; 1130 hrs_ **

Sam Carter had never felt so alive before.

She supposed this was an ironic thing to feel while killing Jaffa with her bare hands--she was pretty sure she'd broken at least one man's neck just by holding her arm out and running at him--but they were the enemy. She and the colonel were doing Earth a service. The fact that it felt kind of good was just icing on the cake.

Now, she was a realistic woman. She knew she'd never be the strongest on this team; her only physical advantage over the others was speed, with her smaller mass, and, well, the others were a Jaffa who made up for it in brute force and decades worth of tactical wisdom, a CO who had black-ops skills that she'd need years to match, and a boy trained by all three of them whose mind had no limits and who hadn't even finished growing into his gangly teenage body yet.

But now...

At the entrance to the mothership, there was another group of guards. Sam glanced at the colonel. He held out a hand, saying, "Red Rover, Red Rover, send Jack and Sam over..."

She laughed aloud. But the colonel was grinning, too, and their tandem clothesline took out all of the Serpent Guards, armor and all, so she was definitely allowed some fun.

"This way," she said, pointing down the hallway, excitement pumping through her veins. They were unstoppable. "We'll set the C-4 on a five minute timer. After the cooling system goes down, it should take at least ten minutes, no more than twelve, for the power core to go critical. That gives us about fifteen minutes to get back to the Stargate after planting the--"

Footsteps sounded ahead of them.

On reflex, Sam shrank back against a wall and peered carefully around the corner. It was just two Jaffa, though, which they could take out easily, and they were carrying...

Ooh! Wow--was that...?

"It takes two guys to carry that?" Colonel O'Neill was saying, looking out from behind her.

"That's weapons-grade naquadah, sir," she whispered eagerly, staring at the block. "It's extremely dense. Do you know how many naquadah reactors a single bar like that could power?"

"No," the colonel said.

"A lot," she breathed. "Sir...I'd like to--"

"Give me your C-4," he said, waving her along. "We'll meet back here. Which way do I go?"

"Down this hall, sir," she said. "The force shield should be near the end there." Grinning, she tossed him her blocks of C-4 and sprinted down the corridor.

Just for fun, she ran circles around the two Jaffa and their bar of naquadah first. They dropped the bar and turned, looking for her--in vain, of course, because they were moving like _snails_. She stopped for an instant to wave at them--

\--and swayed, suddenly dizzy. "Whoa," she said aloud.

But then a fist headed toward her face--which was unacceptable--and she dodged easily, shoving the two Jaffa toward the wall of the ship. They both made crunching noises as they hit the wall, but they stayed down.

Sam took a second to wipe sweat from her face. When had it gotten so hot?

Never mind--the colonel was probably planting the C-4 right now, or maybe even done already. She regarded the litter the naquadah had been sitting on and forcibly bent it around the bar, hitching it up so she could carry it like a sack. To her relief, it still felt...not light, certainly, but nothing she couldn't handle.

Kind of.

_Wow_.

She gritted her teeth and gripped her load more securely. This was ridiculous--she'd been benching hundreds of pounds easily last night, and that had been only about six hours after the start of the experiment. Even ultra-high purity weapons-grade naquadah shouldn't be a problem.

Another Jaffa appeared around the corner. With an effort-- _why was this so hard?_ \--she hefted the entire load of naquadah and swung it into the side of the Serpent Guard's head. He went down hard.

The colonel zipped into sight just as she reached their rendezvous point. "Uh...sir," she said, breathing harder than she'd realized, and then, once she started thinking about it, she realized she was getting kind of lightheaded, too. But they were almost done--just needed to get home and get a snack. Her blood sugar must be low. "I got...the..."

"All right," the colonel said. "Fifteen minutes, Major. Let's go!"

"Y-yes, sir," she said, but then the sack of naquadah slipped off her shoulder. "Wait...sir--"

He was already off. Sam staggered into the wall of the ship, the sack slipping through her fingers. _Focus, Carter--just go!_ With a final effort, she pushed away and took a step.

The world spun around her. She heard a thump, and it was only when she opened her eyes that she realized she was lying on the ground, that she'd been the one who'd made that thump--oh, _god_ , everything was aching, like...like when she was sick, or...

"Carter?"

Sam tried to raise her head. She failed.

"Major Carter!" The colonel's face appeared over her. "What's going on?"

She strained every muscle she could strain and finally managed, "C-can't move..."

She raised her arm a few inches O'Neill he held out a hand to help her up. As she watched, a pressure on her arm released. The armband fell to the floor.

The last thing Sam heard was the sound of the colonel calling her name.

XXXXX

**_15 September 2000; PX9-757; 1130 hrs_ **

Teal'c stepped into the mothership and looked cautiously around. His symbiote was still, perhaps sensing that they were in the midst of a battle, while strength flowed through his veins.

It had been years now since he had been forced to fight a battle on his own, without his friends at his side or without knowing that they were doing their own part, in concert with him. It was strange to discover that he was no longer accustomed to facing enemy Jaffa without his Tau'ri brothers and sisters at his side, but the knowledge of how to do so resided in his very bones.

O'Neill and Major Carter had been brutal with these Jaffa. As Teal'c stepped over a broken body, he wondered whether his friends knew what they were doing at all. The manner in which these Jaffa died was irrelevant--if they succeeded, all of the Serpent Guards here would be dead soon enough--but this was not their usual way.

Filling their roles in their place, Teal'c crept quietly through the halls, following the path of bodies and twisted limbs to locate his friends.

Ahead, the familiar sound of armored footsteps made him slow. Teal'c primed his _zat'nik'tel_ and rounded a corner.

" _Hak kree!_ " someone called, still some distance away.

Knowing that the Serpent Guard could be challenging no one but O'Neill or Major Carter, Teal'c sped toward the voice.

"All right," O'Neill's voice responded. "You got us--don't _kree_!"

Running around another corner, Teal'c finally saw two Serpent Guards standing in the intersection, their staff weapons aimed down another corridor. Teal'c raised his _zat'nik'tel_ and fired. The first fell immediately. He aimed for the second and hit, but not before the other Jaffa had had a chance to fire his weapon.

Teal'c ran forward to see what damage had occurred. He stopped when he found Major Carter lying on the ground with O'Neill bent over her, but a closer inspection showed that she had not been shot; her armband had been removed.

"It seems my assistance is required after all," Teal'c said, feeling abruptly that his friends were truly young indeed. The tables had been thoroughly rotated upon them now.

"Yes," O'Neill said, straightening. "Thank you."

Major Carter stirred. Teal'c noted that O'Neill still wore his armband, then quickly bent to help her. "What happened?" she said weakly.

Teal'c turned as he heard the sound of footsteps approaching.

"Your armband came off, Major," O'Neill said briskly. "Talk later--we gotta move. Teal'c, get her out of here, back to the 'gate. I'll hold them off and meet you there."

Major Carter began to sit up. Teal'c reached down and dragged her up, pulling her along with him before she had time to find her footing. He looked back as they rounded a corner and saw Jaffa falling faster than he could follow, O'Neill merely a blur. "Come," Teal'c said, pulling Major Carter along with him when she stumbled.

"Teal'c," she said, holding tightly to him and pulling herself along with him. "God, I'm so sorry--we must have been--"

"Enough," Teal'c said. "We must run quickly."

"Oh, god," she said, even as she found her footing, "if we hadn't met up with you--the mountain's gonna explode, and you wouldn't have known, Teal'c, we almost--and we killed--"

"Enough!" he repeated sharply. "You are a warrior, Major Carter--remember it now!"

She gripped his arm tighter for a moment, then straightened fully and took more of her own weight from him, breathing hard as she ran. She stumbled again, and he wrapped an arm more securely around her waist.

Major Carter glanced back as they reached the open entrance. "I see him," she said. Teal'c turned as well to see a blur heading in their direction through the emptied corridor. "Let's go."

"Agh!"

They stopped, and Teal'c turned around to see O'Neill collapse to the ground. Letting go of Major Carter, he returned to assist, only to be repulsed by a barrier less than a single pace from O'Neill's unmoving form. "They must have raised the defenses only now," Teal'c observed, pressing experimentally against the barrier in a fruitless attempt to find an opening. "O'Neill!"

"Colonel!" Major Carter added, running to join him. "Sir, you have to get up--no, no, Teal'c, his armband's come off. Colonel, _wake up!_ "

With a groan, O'Neill raised his head slightly, and then rolled over onto his back. "Oy," he said.

"Sir, we've got--about three and a half minutes before the C-4 goes," Major Carter said anxiously, crouching near the ground. "If you don't get up, you'll die!"

"Why?" O'Neill said, sounding as though he were still partially asleep.

"Because you have been unwise," Teal'c snapped. "There is a control panel near you. Can you reach the crystals within?"

Finally, O'Neill forced himself to his feet. At the same time, Major Carter moved away and toward the wall as well. "Colonel, if you can get it open, Teal'c and I can talk you through--"

"Don't think that's gonna happen, Carter," O'Neill said, pulling on the panel covering the internal circuits. He used the butt of a fallen Jaffa's staff weapon to beat at the covering, then shook his head, saying, "There's not enough time. Get out--both of you get out."

"Sir, no," Major Carter protested.

"Major, that's an _order_!" O'Neill barked.

"No," Teal'c said. When O'Neill's gaze turned angrily upon him, he said, "You have been relieved of duty. Until General Hammond restores you to your positions, _I_ am in command of SG-1 and you will do as I say. Open the control panel, O'Neill!"

O'Neill growled wordlessly, then redoubled his efforts at the panel. "Dammit, Teal'c!" he snarled even as he swung the weapon at the casing.

"Colonel--"

"Carter, get _out of here_!"

"No, sir!" she yelled back.

Finally, part of the panel slipped out of place. Immediately, O'Neill grabbed the edges with his fingers, snapping it open and pulling out the drawer of crystals within. "All right, what the hell do I do with this?"

And because O'Neill had, in the words of General Hammond, become stupid and had not yet regained his senses, he aimed his weapon as if to shoot the crystals.

"Sir, no!" Major Carter shouted, just in time. "Just find the power regulator and pull it out--if there's nothing feeding it, it'll have to collapse. Or...well, possibly blow up, but, _but_ \--" she added as O'Neill whirled toward her in alarm--"it's the best chance at destabilizing the circuit sufficiently and safely without trying to determine--"

"A-aht! Just...which one is--"

"The blue one!"

O'Neill grimaced and reached in to pull out the correct crystal. The entire panel sparked violently as he moved away, and O'Neill reeled back, covering his eyes with one arm. As he did, Teal'c saw a flash of energy in the space separating them, and the shield fell. "O'Neill, you are free! We must leave immediately!"

As they ran through the tunnel in the mountain that would lead them out and toward the Stargate, Teal'c heard footsteps behind him. As he raised his _zat'nik'tel_ to fire upon two approaching Serpent Guards, a shudder rolled through the mountain around them. O'Neill staggered to his knees and Major Carter steadied herself on the wall of the tunnel. The two Jaffa pursuing them had fallen. Teal'c dragged O'Neill to his feet, and they continued onward before their pursuers could recover.

"Nine minutes," Major Carter panted as they ran through the brush and toward the Stargate.

"Uh-huh," O'Neill managed.

Teal'c looked back and saw both of them staggering with exhaustion. "Hurry," he said. Major Carter raised a hand as she ran as if to say they were trying. "When we near the Stargate, cover yourselves and wait for my order." O'Neill looked up at the wording but did not correct him, perhaps because he did not seem to have any additional breath with which to protest.

Five minutes, then four, then three...

He left O'Neill and Major Carter behind ruined stone pillars for protection and ran toward the Stargate. A priming staff weapon sounded from the side, and Teal'c ducked around the DHD. Immediately, he raised his _zat'nik'tel_ and shot two the Jaffa easily, but he knew now that reinforcements would be arriving soon.

As he began to dial the address of Earth-- _two minutes_ \--he glanced around to make sure his friends were still safe. Both of them had held their position and were watching him cautiously. Teal'c finished quickly, opened the wormhole, and dialed the SG-1 identification code.

He took Major Carter by one arm and O'Neill by the other. He could feel the ground beginning to tremble as they fled toward the Stargate--

XXXXX

**_15 September 2000; Embarkation Room, SGC; 1150 hrs_ **

Jack and Sam tumbled through the Stargate and collapsed onto the ramp. Teal'c stood watch until the wormhole disengaged behind him, then turned back around to nod to General Hammond.

Daniel started up the ramp, the general beside him. He held out his left hand to help Sam to her feet, wincing when she also pulled on his still-sore right arm. Before he could ask if they were hurt, Jack, still lying on the ramp, said quickly to the general, "Just remember, I retired! _You_ wanted me back!"

"Are you okay?" Daniel asked her, deciding that Jack sounded just fine.

"Will be," Sam said breathlessly. She looked shaky but very much alive.

Teal'c looked around smugly. "I am very well," the Jaffa said.

Still holding one of Sam's arms, Daniel looked at it, then pulled the other arm around, searching both for any sign that the armband had left anything behind--puncture marks, bruises, scratches, anything. He sighed aloud in relief when he couldn't see anything. She stood still, her expression apprehensive, and let him pull her limbs this way and that without resisting. Daniel let go.

"The damn armbands fell off!" Jack said angrily.

And then the relief turned into something a little less steady, because they'd only beenon the planet for less than a half-hour, and if the armbands had fallen off, that meant that his team--all of them--had almost suffered the same fate as the Atanik warriors. Daniel turned around to Anise, who said, "I am sorry."

"Were you successful in destroying the ship?" General Hammond asked. He was talking to Teal'c, Daniel noticed, not to Jack or Sam.

"Indeed we were, General Hammond," Teal'c answered.

"You left the armbands behind?" Anise spoke up. Several eyes darted toward her.

"We had other things on our mind," Sam said bitingly.

Daniel watched to see Anise's reaction, but she only said, "Understandable. And Colonel?" Jack paused in pushing himself to his feet. Freya took control and continued, "Anise and I both hope we can work together again in the future."

"Both of you?" Jack said, his voice just barely less than scornful, and then only because he sounded exhausted. "Can't wait."

"Report to the infirmary," the general said.

"Ah...General," Jack said as he and Sam started down the ramp, "about that...impending court-martial..."

"You were under the influence of an alien technology, Colonel," the general said, looking more relieved than annoyed. "That's a pretty solid defense."

"Even so," Jack insisted, looking as contrite as he ever had, "I'm sorry."

"Me, too," Sam said.

Daniel glanced at Teal'c, who stood straighter and walked down the ramp. "I have no need to apologize," the Jaffa said.

"The other half of your team was following orders," General Hammond told Jack, pointing again toward the side door, where Janet stood waiting, as if to make sure they didn't take any detours on the way to the infirmary.

"Right. Of course," Jack sighed, following Teal'c out of the 'gate room.

When it was only Anise and General Hammond left standing in the 'gate room with him, Daniel started to sidle surreptitiously down the ramp. Before he could escape, though, the general said, "Mr. Jackson, wait for me in my office. I'll be with you as soon as I send Anise back to Vorash."

"Yes, sir," Daniel said, resigned to seeing his friends later.

As it turned out, though, Teal'c was waiting there, too. "It was close, wasn't it?" Daniel asked quietly as he heard the Stargate begin to spin in the distance.

"Extremely," Teal'c said simply.

Daniel nodded, sitting and clasping his hands in his lap. "Thank you, Teal'c."

"There is no need for thanks. What of the Tok'ra High Council?"

"I didn't really deal with them; Martouf met us." He pushed his glasses higher and admitted, "I might have messed up. A lot. I was...angry, and I might have gone too far."

"That's why I sent you, Mr. Jackson, instead of simply briefing SG-14," General Hammond said, entering and waving him back into his seat when he started to stand, "in addition to the fact that I didn't have time to brief SG-14 fully, or I wouldn't have had you wrangle with them by yourself. I trust you didn't tell them outright that we were cutting off relations?"

"No, sir, I--I didn't," Daniel said, "although..." He winced. "I think I came pretty close. I'm sorry if it made things worse."

The general nodded, taking his seat. "Well, since SG-14 hasn't come back quite yet, I'll assume negotiations are still in progress."

"We really need this alliance," Daniel said, thinking that General Hammond wasn't taking this gravely enough. "What they can do is far beyond us. Just in terms of intelligence alone, we can't afford to lose their friendship." The war they'd inadvertently started with the Goa'uld a few years ago was escalating alarmingly, and they would need every ally they could find.

"And they need _us_ at least as much, judging from recent experience," the general answered. "But I was perfectly serious--I will not enter into an alliance as the lesser party for them to use." When Daniel opened his mouth again, he continued, "Teal'c, the first time SG-1 met the Tok'ra, what did they say about us?"

"They did not believe unblended humans could be of any service to the Tok'ra," Teal'c said promptly. "They thought humans were neither strong enough nor advanced enough."

"I understand that's almost word-for-word," the general said. "They've spent thousands of years thinking we're nothing but potential Goa'uld slaves or people not even fit to be 'of service' to them. I'm not about to let this relationship slip back down that slope, and if I have to be harsh to ensure it doesn't happen, I'll do it."

Daniel nodded. "Okay, but with respect, I just don't think it would be a good idea to try to...to strong-arm them like this often in the future. I was able to catch Martouf off-guard just by mentioning Sam, but next time they'll push back if we push them. We're not in a strong enough position for that kind of maneuvering."

General Hammond considered him thoughtfully, then said, "I agree, Mr. Jackson. Now, what about the mission? The Tok'ra still deny it was planned?"

"Yes, sir. If you want my opinion..."

"I do," the general said.

"Councilor Ren'al may have known about it beforehand--at the least, she didn't feel bad about its happening. Maybe other members of the Council were involved, but I only spoke with Ren'al and was unable to gauge anyone else's reactions," Daniel reported. "I don't think Anise or Freya knew."

"Based on?"

"I spoke to her several times concerning her work on the Ataniks, including some methods of data retrieval that we'd consider potentially unethical. She's very unapologetic about her methods; I don't think she'd lie outright. It's more likely the Council took advantage of her single-mindedness and counted on her not to look more closely at the situation."

The general's expression didn't reveal whether or not he agreed, but he said, "All right. And the others?"

"Martouf didn't seem to know"--and Daniel preferred to think Martouf wouldn't have let it happen--"but he's also just returned today from a long mission. It's possible only a few people were involved in the...uh...manipulation."

"We'll see what SG-14 says when they return. I want you in that meeting, Mr. Jackson--just for today," he added with a wry smile when Daniel felt himself make a face. "Now. Go ahead and visit Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter. Teal'c, I need the rest of the story from you first."

So Daniel stood and left while Teal'c stayed to recount whatever had happened with Apophis's ship. Daniel was just happy about the part in which it had blown up without his friends inside.

XXXXX

**_15 September 2000; Level 25 Guest Room, SGC; 2000 hrs_ **

Janet let them leave the infirmary by evening, though they were stuck on base for at least the next day or until everything in their bodies was back to normal. Sam found Daniel inside the VIP room she'd been assigned for the night. At first, she thought she'd walked into his quarters by accident, but then he said, "Are you going to bed?"

"Yeah," Sam said.

"I just wanted to check that you're okay," he said.

"Oh," she said.

Daniel stood chewing his lip for a moment, and then said, "So...are you okay?"

"Oh!" she said again. "Uh, yeah."

"Mm-hm," he said. "Well. Janet says you'll be really tired for a while, so if you need--"

"I'm fine, Daniel!" she snapped.

Daniel paused on his way out and tilted his head, studying her. "Okay," he said.

"Oh, god," she groaned, moving to sit on the bed. "I'm so sorry. I'm just..."

"I know. It's okay."

Her eyes were drooping closed already. The part of her mind that wasn't asleep yet told her that Daniel was still there somewhere, because she'd have heard a door close otherwise. The part of her mind that was already trying to sleep was winning out, though, and she leaned sideways, intending to flop into her pillow.

She couldn't even do that right, because Daniel was sitting right next to her and her head landed on his shoulder. "Right, you want to sleep," Daniel said, shifting away. "Sorry, I should've--I'll move."

Sam opened her eyes and grabbed his arm. He stopped, staring at the hand on his wrist but not moving. "If I'd done that this morning," she murmured, looking at her fingers as they curled around his arm, "your bones would have been crushed."

Daniel started to peel her fingers away--well, _now_ he could, since she wasn't strong as hell anymore--but then stopped and covered her hand with his instead. "You didn't do anything wrong, Sam," he said. She huffed a weak laugh. "Well, okay, but it wasn't your fault."

" _Mea culpa_ ," she said, recalling the words from ritual, from church, years and years ago.

" _Culpa tua non est_ ," Daniel said after a pause. He looked puzzled about why they were speaking in Latin, but he continued anyway, " _Fortasse_ propter _te, sed sunt Tok'ra qui in culpa sunt. Tok'ra ne quidem, quod--_ "

"I lost you at the first ' _culpa_ ,'" she told him tiredly.

"Oh," he said, and he shut up but didn't let go of her.

"I haven't gone to confession in a long time," she said aloud, remembering the wet, squelching sounds her arm had made as she destroyed a Jaffa's ribcage even through the armor to crush the organs within, the scream of terror as she'd pushed a man over the bar in O'Malley's while she and the colonel laughed. Daniel didn't say anything for a while, so she explained, "That's a...I grew up Catholic, and it's like a...a kind of ritual in--"

"I know what it is," he said, because he did things like reading about religion for fun. She wasn't looking at him, but she could hear guilt in _his_ voice and was too tired to try to figure out why. "Sam, you don't need to... It's okay. Okay? Just go to sleep. You'll feel better when you've rested and the...the chemicals in your blood aren't all over the place."

"We could have killed you," she said. "By the end...God, I would've killed anyone who got in our way and barely even felt bad about it."

" _You_ could have died, too," Daniel said. "Don't forget that. You were drugged, okay?"

"It felt really good," she said, dropping her head back onto Daniel's shoulder and wishing despite all reason--and she had about ten logical reasons--that she still had that armband.

An arm wrapped around her back. "Well...I guess it was a very...happy drug, then. But that doesn't mean you were more at fault. Maybe it just feels worse now because it felt good before."

"I'm a scientist," she said.

"That doesn't make you omniscient, Sam."

"But I should've known to...to wait until we had more data. I should have _questioned_ it."

Daniel wasn't looking at her. She suspected that meant that he agreed but was stopping himself from saying it. Sam sighed, closing her eyes again. She was almost asleep on his shoulder when she felt a light press of lips on her head and heard him say softly, " _Te absolvo a peccatis tuis pro fratribus tuis._ All right?"

Her first thought was to wonder just how much of the specifics of Earth religions Daniel was learning, but then she realized he hadn't said it right. She might not know Latin, and she might not have gone to church or prayed to that one God in a long time, but she'd heard the formula enough during her childhood to know what it was supposed to sound like. "What happened to _in nomine patris et filii_ \--"

"Well, I'm not speaking on behalf of your god, Sam."

"But then I don't know what you said."

"Just...if you feel that you need to confess something," he said, "then I forgive you, and everyone else who matters forgives you, too."

"All right," she settled.

"All right?"

"It sounds pretty in Latin."

Daniel let out a laugh. "Okay," he said. A moment later, he squirmed a little and said, "Do you, uh, want to let me go now?"

"Mmph," Sam said into his arm. "'Night, Daniel."

"Get off me, Sam."

"Okay," she said, sliding forward. That was the wrong direction, though, and she landed with her head in his lap, then blinked up at him. "I'm really...really tired." It took far too much effort just to say those words without slurring them.

"Yeah," Daniel said with an amused smile. "Janet said you would be. Um." He picked up her head and deposited it on the pillow, slipping out from under her as he did.

"Don't suppose you'd take off my boots, too," she mumbled into the pillow, only half kidding.

After a moment, she looked up to see him looking at her feet in consternation. They were all rather unapologetic when they needed to change or wash quickly in the field-- _especially_ Daniel, who had once been used to running around in little more than a loincloth on Abydos--but as soon as they were on base, he became more modest than even the Tau'ri, at least around women. He was such an odd mixture of clinical objectivity, the taboos and morals he'd been raised with, and the ones he'd absorbed on Earth.

Still, he bent, undid her laces, quickly pulled the boots off, then backed away. "Okay, but I'm not undressing you any more than that," he said, setting the shoes down on the floor.

Sam began to giggle uncontrollably.

"What?" Daniel said, turning bright red.

"Yeah, let's not do that," she agreed, getting a grip on herself. He reached the door and started to pull it open but hovered uncertainly. "Good night, Daniel," she said.

That seemed to be the signal he was waiting for, and he gave her a quick smile, then flicked off the light and left.

XXXXX

**_15 September 2000; Level 25 Guest Room, SGC; 2000 hrs_ **

Teal'c was waiting when Jack found his way into his assigned room. "So," Jack said.

"O'Neill," Teal'c answered.

He didn't say anything else. Jack pulled open a drawer, just because it was there, then closed it again since there was nothing interesting inside. "So..." he repeated, stalling before he had to get yelled at by a Jaffa. "What's happening with the Tok'ra?"

"SG-14 has reported that they were successful in strengthening the language of our proposed treaty," Teal'c said. "Anise sent a message with them to say that she was sorry for the effects of this experiment and considers herself to be in our debt."

"Really," Jack said. "The Tok'ra--in our _debt_?"

"I believe Anise was speaking on behalf of herself, not the High Council. She is willing to make herself available to us should we request aid from the Tok'ra."

Jack wished she would just make herself scarce, instead, but debts to them were good in his book. Still, he'd be happy if he never saw her again. He stuck his hands into his pockets, hoping he could just go to sleep and put off the rest until tomorrow...

Actually, no--he had something to say to Teal'c, too. "What the hell was that, out there?"

"Of what do you speak?" Teal'c said with his unbearable calm.

"You know perfectly well _of what I speak_ ," Jack retorted.

Teal'c didn't deny it. "I was preventing Major Carter from being forced to disobey a direct order," he said.

"You should've ordered her to get the hell out of there!"

"She would not have obeyed."

" _You_ should've gotten the hell out of there--she would've obeyed if it meant keeping you alive!"

Teal'c didn't bother answering that. Jack glared at him for a moment, then decided to save what pride he had left and sit down on his bed before he fell down on the floor. "You would not have known how to disable the shield without the expertise of Major Carter," Teal'c said. "We could not leave and allow you to die needlessly."

"You could've died," Jack snapped.

"We did not," Teal'c said.

Which wasn't the point.

"That is the point, O'Neill," Teal'c said.

"For cryin' out loud," Jack sighed, flopping backward on the bed with his fists over gritty eyes. After a moment, he dropped his hands away. "Look, Teal'c," he said. "I know yesterday and today I was sort of being an asshole--"

"Indeed."

"Would you let me finish!" Jack said, exasperated.

Teal'c stopped and waited.

"Well, now I lost my train of thought," Jack said.

"There is nothing to forgive, O'Neill," Teal'c said.

"Who says I was gonna ask for forgiveness?" Jack said halfheartedly.

Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "You were not going to ask," he said.

Jack rubbed his arm where he'd already gotten used to the feel of the Atanik armband. It was different for Carter--if Jack screwed up, he was the commander who'd put his own people at risk and needed his people to pull his ass out of the fire because he'd been too busy grinning like a madman while killing Jaffa barehanded.

"Nonetheless," Teal'c said, "you are forgiven."

"I thought you said there was nothing to forgive," Jack said.

"Do you feel that there is?"

Jack sighed. "Thanks," he said quietly. "You're not gonna make me call you 'sir' from now on, are you?" he added, because, while he knew it had been reasonable, it had stung to hear that he'd been removed from his command, even for less than an hour.

"You are known already among the free Jaffa as my disciple," Teal'c said, then turned and walked out the door.

"Wh--wait," Jack said indignantly. "Hey--Teal'c!" Teal'c turned around and raised his damn eyebrow again. Jack considered getting up and...something. Except that, at the moment, Teal'c would probably just pound him into the floor if he tried anything, and he really didn't feel like getting up right now anyway. "Whatever," he said.

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed, and turned off the light as he left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Daniel's Latin: rough translations
> 
> 1\. "Culpa tua non est. Fortasse propter te, sed sunt Tok'ra qui in culpa sunt. Tok'ra ne quidem, quod--": "It's not your fault. Because of you, perhaps, but it's the Tok'ra who are at fault. Not even the Tok'ra, since--"
> 
> 2\. "Te absolvo a peccatis tuis pro fratribus tuis.": "I forgive you your sins on behalf of your brothers." (A play on the very traditional absolution, in which 'pro fratribus tuis' would have been replaced by 'in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti,' 'in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit')


	4. Shan'auc

**_21 September 2000; SGC; 1900 hrs_ **

Normally, Jack made a point of staying as oblivious as possible to his team's romantic lives.

This usually was not much of a problem. Carter's crushes tended to be very confusing and on aliens who lived far, far away. Teal'c's wife was just as far away, in all practical terms, and Daniel...well, he was a healthy, teenaged male, but he also lived on a military base under heavy scrutiny with adults he'd known since he'd been fourteen. Jack decided to believe nothing untoward was happening there.

But then Shan'auc arrived, and things got...

Jack left Teal'c and Shan'auc making eyes at each other in the infirmary, and he went to seek out the rest of his team and see what they'd put together between their not-inconsiderable brains.

When he approached the archaeology office, Daniel and Carter were gathered around one desk, talking with Dr. Rothman, who sat at another. "I don't know," Carter was saying. "I believe _she_ believes she's telling the truth. I just wouldn't put it past a Goa'uld to trick her into it."

"But isn't this kind of like what happened to the Tok'ra?" Rothman pointed out. "I mean, if you concede that all Goa'uld symbiotes aren't inherently evil..."

"Well," Daniel said, "still, look at how many Tok'ra there are and how many Goa'uld there are, and even then, we know there have been a couple of traitors within the ranks of the Tok'ra. Garshaw, Jolinar, and Cordesh are the only turned Goa'uld we've met personally, right, and out of those, Cordesh was a spy and Jolinar...well..." He glanced at Carter.

"In other words, their physiology is against them," she said, ignoring the remark about Jolinar. "We'd have to hope this one's personality and...and loyalty to Shan'auc is strong enough to overcome a lot of evil that's essentially written into its genetic code."

Daniel flipped through a few pages of whatever he was looking at. "Then again..." he said.

"Yeah," she said. "Then again, some _have_ done it. I mean, Teal'c says Garshaw is famous for being a Goa'uld turncoat, and as far as anyone knows, she's completely loyal to the Tok'ra cause."

" _I'd_ trust Garshaw as much as any other Tok'ra, turncoat or no," Daniel opined.

Carter nodded agreement. "Me too."

"So the question is whether or not it's worth the risk," Rothman said. "Two out of three Goa'uld-turned-Tok'ra that we know of have gone bad."

"One out of three," she corrected, scowling at him.

"One and a half," Daniel compromised.

"Jolinar's ultimate intentions--"

Jack stepped in. "Decide fast," he said, "because Dr. Fraiser says Shan'auc's got another couple of days, tops. You find anything?"

Al three of them shook their heads. Daniel offered, "I asked Teal'c specifically, years ago, whether he could communicate with his _prim'ta_ , and he said 'no.'"

"He sure doesn't believe her," Carter added.

"Well," Jack said, leaning forward on the desk, "there may be a little more than meets the eye, here. I'm thinking they got history."

"History?" Carter echoed dubiously.

Jack nodded. "Oh, yeah." Teal'c was a hundred years old, and his son was something like fourteen. That left a lot of time between Teal'c's joining Apophis and his meeting Drey'auc, and it made sense for it to have been secret, especially given that Jack was pretty sure priestesses like Shan'auc weren't supposed to date. "There was some serious sparkage when she arrived."

"Sparkage?" Daniel repeated, looking confused and actually reaching for a dictionary. "What does that mean?"

"Old flames," Jack tried. This didn't seem to illuminate anything. "Carrying a torch...never heard those?"

"Can you not gossip about Teal'c's sex life in my office?" Rothman said, making a face.

"Oh," Daniel said, halting his dictionary search. "Wait, but Teal'c has a wife!"

" _What_ did I just say?" Rothman said, throwing a crumpled ball of paper at Daniel's head and missing by a good half-foot. Daniel picked it back up and hit Rothman in the glasses.

"Okay," Carter said, holding up a hand for all geekish roughhousing to stop, "the question is...what if she's telling the truth? If we use the Tok'ra as an example, we know their species isn't automatically doomed to end up on the side of the System Lords. There's a possibility, assuming that Shan'auc isn't being tricked herself."

Jack thought that was a pretty big assumption to make. He didn't even trust the Tok'ra not to try to trick them, and they weren't System Lord spawn communicating in images and feelings to their Jaffa surrogate mother. "And if she's _not_ telling the truth?" Jack said. "Then we'll have offered up an innocent human to be a Goa'uld host. Besides, the Tok'ra have genetic memory, too--how much are we actually going to get out of this?"

"Actually, sir," Carter said, "most of the Tok'ra left the Goa'uld gene pool thousands of years ago. Shan'auc's symbiote could probably tell us a lot about what the Goa'uld have learned in that time, which makes it a very valuable source of information."

"I think we need to consult the Tok'ra," Daniel said.

"Nuh-uh," Jack said immediately, because he'd had quite enough of the Tok'ra lately. Then, because the others were looking at him and he felt like he should say something that sounded logical, he added, "Besides, if we don't know whether or not she's lying, we can't risk another spy getting into the Tok'ra's ranks."

Daniel fingers tapped the top of his desk. "I just think...if we knew a little more about the Tok'ra, and how their movement was started or...or how they've been recruiting people..."

"Might as well get an expert opinion," Rothman summarized.

"Teal'c's an expert," Jack said flatly. "If Teal'c doesn't buy it, then I don't buy it, and there's no way of proving it, so what are you gonna do?"

Just then, Teal'c appeared in the doorway. "O'Neill," he said.

"Master Teal'c," Jack replied as snidely as he could. True, Shan'auc and maybe Bra'tac had been the ones to call him Teal'c's disciple; still, he couldn't help wondering if this was still some sort of payback for shutting Teal'c out during that whole Atanik thing. Teal'c certainly seemed smug enough about it.

By now, though, he'd lost all trace of smugness as he said, "I am in need of your assistance."

Jack spread a hand before himself. "I am here to serve."

Not acknowledging the quip, Teal'c continued, "Daniel Jackson, Major Carter, I am in need of your assistance also."

Rothman looked at Teal'c, but nothing was forthcoming, so he shrugged and buried himself back in his work. Daniel and Carter exchanged puzzled glances, then followed Teal'c out of the office. "Is she telling the truth?" Daniel said, walking quickly to catch up to Teal'c.

"There may be a way to determine that," Teal'c said.

Looking interested, Carter moved to catch up as well, leaving Jack at the back. "I'm not sure I understand," she said. "I know Janet's tried monitoring your symbiote's neural signals before, but we've never been able to interpret it."

"I do not intend to use Dr. Fraiser's methods," Teal'c said. "There may be another way to find our answer."

"Do you trust her?" Daniel said. "Shan'auc."

"She has spent her life as a priestess of Apophis," Teal'c answered flatly.

"Well," Carter said tentatively, " _you_ spent your life as a warrior of Apophis." Teal'c gave her a dark look.

"We're just asking whether it's possible that she feels the same way as you," Daniel placated. "Do you trust her as a person?"

Teal'c was silent as they walked down the hallway toward his quarters. "I am uncertain," he finally said, and walked in.

Jack pushed the door closed behind himself once they'd all filed in, and he leaned back against the wall as Teal'c began lighting candles and placing them to form some complex design. When it became clear it was going to take a while, Daniel grabbed one of the lit candles and helped, filling in the rest of some pattern that he seemed to know. Carter was watching in interest, actually rising to her toes as if to look down at the candles and see exactly what the pattern was.

"Huh," she said thoughtfully. "That's a...a fractal of some sort, isn't it?"

Teal'c didn't pause or look up. Daniel did but looked puzzled as he explained, "It's a focusing aid. Similar patterns are found in some Tau'ri religions, too, for ritual purposes. We haven't determined whether it's an example of cross-pollination between human and Jaffa spirituality or simply drawn from a common way of thinking."

"Well, geometry could be common to both," Carter said, looking carefully at the pattern of dripping candles, "as well as practical patterns found in nature."

"Careful, Major," Jack warned as she nearly stepped backward onto one of Teal'c's candles. "Let's hypothesize later, huh?"

So they both quieted, though Carter now bent to help them fill in a few spots where she'd picked up the design. Finally, she and Daniel both stepped back out of the way and Teal'c lowered himself to a seat among the candles.

"In the deepest levels of _kelno'reem_ ," Teal'c said, staring somewhere near the center of the fiery geometric pattern, "the heart beats in extremely long intervals. It is even possible to meditate so deeply that one may stop the heart altogether. The practice is forbidden."

"Wouldn't your symbiote try to start it up again?" Carter said.

"That is correct. According to Shan'auc, it is only at this time that a communion between Jaffa and symbiote is possible."

Now, this was part of what was bothering Jack. How wise was it, really, for a Jaffa to try to commune with the snake in his stomach? As far as they knew, the only way for a person to communicate with a symbiote was to have one in his or her head, and that was _always_ a bad idea. How much control did one have while in contact with the Goa'uld, a species that practically survived on mind control?

"Like a near-death experience," Carter was saying.

Jack saw Daniel grimace very slightly, but he remained quiet. Not moving, Teal'c said calmly, "That is correct."

"Is it dangerous?" Jack said, staring at the pouch where the larval Goa'uld lived.

Daniel frowned at him in the dim light. "Jack, he's going to be near death."

Returning the annoyed look--he wasn't an idiot--Jack clarified, "I mean for _us_."

Sure enough, Teal'c acknowledged, "I am unsure of what will occur if and when communion with my symbiote is achieved. It may be necessary to restrain me."

Jack wondered whether it was actually possible for the three of them to restrain a Teal'c at full fury. He suspected it wasn't. Maybe it would help that it would be a Teal'c whose heart hadn't been beating for a while. "Well," he said reluctantly, "knock yourself out." _Literally_.

Teal'c stared a moment longer at the candles arrayed around them, then took a deep breath and shut his eyes. As soon as he did, Jack gestured for Carter and Daniel to take up position at either side of the door while Jack stood guard between them. Both of them obeyed, though Carter looked like she still had more than a few reservations about the wisdom of this exercise, while Daniel looked like he wasn't sure whether to be intrigued or freaked.

For the first minute, Jack was professionally watchful and on guard.

And then it was just boring, so he was admittedly glad when Teal'c gasped and opened his eyes.

"I believe I saw a vision of my father," Teal'c said, sounding as stunned as Jack had ever heard him.

"It's working?" Daniel said in fascination.

Instead of answering directly, Teal'c closed his eyes. "I will begin again."

So they began to wait again.

It was supposed to be impossible--Carter and Fraiser had said so, and so had Teal'c. Still, now Teal'c was saying he'd seen something, and there was a lot they'd thought was impossible until the last few years. But what the hell were they doing, anyway, trying to talk sense into Goa'uld spawn? For crying out loud, Shan'auc was calling it her _child_. If that wasn't a lack of objectivity about the _mind-controlling snake in her gut_ , Jack didn't know what was.

Teal'c stiffened where he sat, his hands clenching hard into fists so tight they were trembling. Daniel leaned forward. "Teal'c?"

No answer. Teal'c grimaced, and his back arched slightly.

"Teal'c," Jack said sharply, snapping his fingers. "Wake up!"

With a sound like a man choking on his last breath, Teal'c's body went limp and collapsed.

Jack stepped over a row of candles and crouched at Teal'c's side, aware of Daniel on the other side helping him pull their friend onto his back. Carter's voice was snapping into a telephone, "Medical emergency, Teal'c's quarters!"

But then Teal'c took a sharp breath and said, "That will not be necessary, Major Carter."

"Belay that order and stand by," Carter amended.

"Let's get him up," Jack said, and he and Daniel together managed to haul Teal'c back into a mostly-upright position. Teal'c was...shaky, which was an adjective Jack hadn't expected ever to have to use with his Jaffa. Then again, that thing with the heart stopping... "What happened?"

Teal'c took a long, slow breath. "I have received a vision from my symbiote. It was a memory it chose to share. Its hatred for me is great."

"Then it's possible," Carter said. "Shan'auc could be telling the truth."

"Yes," Teal'c said, almost smiling. "Yes. I must speak with her."

"We need to talk to the Tok'ra," Daniel said again, subdued, with his gaze fixed on Teal'c's belly. Maybe he was a little uncomfortable to think of the thing in Teal'c's gut as anything other than just the _thing_ that kept their friend alive. No one liked to have it thrust into their faces that the symbiote was sentient and definitely had a memory and opinions already.

"Yeah," Jack said. "Teal'c, why don't you stay with Shan'auc and see if there's anything else you can find out from her. The rest of us'll go to Vorash and ask someone to come back here to talk it over with all of us."

XXXXX

**_21 September 2000; Briefing Room, SGC; 2300 hrs_ **

Jack wasn't fond of dealing with the Tok'ra as a whole, especially given that Martouf was off on another mission and Jacob still wasn't back, which meant that they'd gotten Anise. He also wasn't fond of playing nice with people to get their help. On the far-too-frequent occasion that he was put in a position to do both at once, though, he had discovered the best way of sucking it up and handling the situation.

"We have a situation that Major Carter and Daniel want to explain," Jack said when Anise joined them at the table, where the three of them were waiting while Teal'c and the general talked to Shan'auc.

Daniel gave him a dirty look.

"Well...uh," Carter said, rallying valiantly. "We...have a proposal for you to consider. Shan'auc, a Jaffa priestess of Apophis, says that she's managed to convince her symbiote that the Goa'uld are evil. It wants to take a willing host only--it wants to join the Tok'ra, and it's offering to divulge Goa'uld knowledge in exchange."

Anise's eyebrows had shot all the way toward the top of her forehead. "This is...a most irregular request," she said.

"To be honest," Daniel spoke up, "we're not entirely trying to convince you. We'd like your advice on whether or not it's possible. It sounds like a big risk, but with a lot of possible benefit, too, for both of our peoples."

"I am not aware that Jaffa are able to communicate with their symbiotes," she said doubtfully.

"Actually, _that's_ not what we're asking," Jack said, sticking his head into the conversation.

"Teal'c tried it," Carter explained. "It's a forbidden _kelno'reem_ technique, maybe even forbidden expressly to prevent this kind of communion. By doing what Shan'auc suggested, he's been able to access memories from his symbiote."

"Then it is possible," Anise said, looking much more interested now. "There are many Goa'uld secrets we could learn from such an operative."

"Right," Daniel said hesitantly. "It's just...the symbiote could still be lying. How probable is this?" Anise turned to look out thoughtfully toward the Stargate. "I mean, this isn't how Goa'uld originally defected to the side of the Tok'ra, is it?" Daniel pressed.

Before she could answer, Teal'c and General Hammond walked in. They gave Jack questioning looks, and he could only shake his head that they hadn't come to a decision yet.

They sat down, watching Anise as she considered, until finally, she turned back around to sit. "The great queen Egeria," she said. "She was the beginning of the Tok'ra movement, though we did not call ourselves so until after her confrontation with Ra."

"Egeria," Daniel said, swiveling from side to side in his chair as he thought. "She was said to be a water nymph--the counselor and consort to a king of Tau'ri Rome who taught him to be a...a just king. But..." He frowned. "That was only...two, maybe three thousand years ago. That's after Ra, after the Stargate closed."

"But the Goa'uld--and the Tok'ra--would've mastered interstellar travel by way of ship long before that," Carter said.

Anise nodded. "Knowing that Tau'ri was the first planet of humans, and the site of the first human rebellions against the Goa'uld, Egeria travelled here many times before the closing of the Stargate in an attempt to prevent humans from being taken to other planets. She was trapped here after the Egyptian rebellion, but what the king Numa Pompilius saw as her death was in fact only the death of Egeria's host. She left the planet by ship and continued to spread our movement."

Jack wondered what new host she'd hijacked to do that.

"If she is a queen," Teal'c said, "why then do the number of the Tok'ra continue to dwindle even now?"

"Maybe a better question," Jack said, "is why we've never met her before."

"Egeria is no longer among us," Anise said. "She was killed by Ra shortly after leaving Earth for the last time--but not before she spawned our movement."

"Literally," Carter said.

"Yes," Anise confirmed.

"And that's why you call yourselves Tok'ra," Daniel guessed. "In memory of her."

"And because Ra was, for millennia, the most powerful System Lord. You are correct, Major Carter--most of the Tok'ra are descendants of Egeria. Selmak," she added, "was among the first born after Egeria's break from the System Lords. He is the only one surviving from that era and one of the few who met the queen before her death."

"The original number of Tok'ra is all you have?" Hammond asked.

"Very few Goa'uld came over to our side," Anise said, "but none in the past few hundred years. Our numbers have diminished as symbiotes were unable to find new hosts, died, or fell in battle. This is why Shan'auc's offer is so provocative."

"So this could increase your numbers someday if this is true," Carter said.

Anise tilted her head. "Yes. But we cannot know for certain until the symbiote has taken a host."

"Then you'll accept our offer?" Hammond asked.

"I will make the proposal to the Council," she said, nodding, "with my recommendation."

"How long will that take?" Jack asked.

"It will not be an easy decision," Anise said. "There are great risks involved."

"Shan'auc's symbiote is fully mature," Teal'c told her. "It must take a host within the day, two at the most."

She stood from her seat. The general rose with her, taking the rest of them to their feet, too. "Then I will leave immediately," she said.

"I would make a personal request," Teal'c said, bowing slightly as he turned to her.

Jack couldn't decide whether to avert his eyes as Teal'c made his appeal to the Tok'ra to save Shan'auc's life. He ended up staring at Daniel, who looked even more confused. Jack decided he agreed with that sentiment.

XXXXX

**_22 September 2000; Level 25 Corridor, SGC; 0800 hrs_ **

Daniel walked along the hallway and pretended he wasn't just waiting for Teal'c to come out of his room. It was odd for Teal'c not to answer when someone knocked. Daniel had only rarely been refused entrance in the past, and only because Teal'c was angry about something--even then, Teal'c at least growled at him to go away. This time, he wasn't even answering. He wasn't anywhere else on base, though, and the light was on in Teal'c's quarters, so he had to be in there.

Except he wasn't.

As Daniel turned around to start to pace in the other direction, the door to one of the VIP guest quarters--Shan'auc's room--opened. Teal'c walked out. Daniel stiffened, looking between Teal'c's happy-- _happy, beaming!_ \--expression and the priestess's room. " _Tal'ma'tae_ ," Teal'c said quietly into the room, and then closed the door as he stepped out.

_Tal'ma'tae_.

It was hard to interpret that any way other than an expression of love. And it might be used between two very close friends, but Daniel somehow doubted that Drey'auc or Rya'c would see it that way. Daniel had never had cause to ask Teal'c about Jaffa marriage practices, but surely it meant as much to Jaffa as it did to Abydons? He hadn't thought Teal'c would put that aside.

"Teal'c," Daniel called, speeding his steps to catch up to his friend.

" _Kel sha_ , Daniel Jackson," Teal'c answered, still smiling, though the greeting itself--not even a greeting, but rather a happy announcement that all was well--could have told Daniel more than the uncharacteristic expression.

" _Tek'ma'tae_ ," Daniel answered more formally, because as far as he was concerned, all was _not_ well. "How is Shan'auc?"

"The pain of carrying a symbiote past its time is extreme," Teal'c said. "Shan'auc bears it well."

Oh.

"That's, uh..." Daniel scratched his head. "So...that's why you were in her room all night?"

For a moment, Teal'c didn't answer. Then, in a low voice, he said, "Shan'auc came to us expecting to die. She has sacrificed much for our cause."

"I know," Daniel said quickly, looking away. "I'm not saying...okay. Okay. But, uh...is everything all right?"

"Indeed," Teal'c said, and walked away.

"Wait, stop," Daniel said, running to catch up again. "Teal'c, just--hold on, please." Teal'c stopped and turned back around. "You'd tell me, right, if something were...you know...wrong?"

To his surprise, Teal'c took two quick steps toward him and clapped him on the shoulders with both hands. "Daniel Jackson," he said, an almost feverish glint in his eyes, leaning close until Daniel had to force himself not to lean instinctively away. "If all Jaffa can be taught to commune with their symbiotes, then the days of the Goa'uld are truly numbered."

"But...you're assuming that convincing a Goa'uld in your abdomen is easier than convincing a Goa'uld in a host," Daniel pointed out. Who was to say that a Jaffa was any more persuasive than a Goa'uld? Who was convincing whom, and who was being fooled?

Teal'c placed a hand against his stomach where the symbiote pouch lay. "When they are within us," he said earnestly, "their minds hold the knowledge of their ancestors, but their will is yet to be shaped. Did we not speak of this only recently? Their will and their beliefs...that is what separates the Tok'ra from the Goa'uld, not their nature. The Jaffa can use this."

Daniel looked warily at where Teal'c's hand rested near his symbiote. "Okay," he said, trying not to sound pessimistic. "So...Shan'auc can teach others, yes?"

"If Shan'auc lives," Teal'c said fiercely, "then I intend to be at her side." Daniel held still, suddenly cold. "And if she does not, I will not allow her sacrifice to be in vain."

"But...it'll be...dangerous," he said lamely.

"I do not fear danger," Teal'c said, because of course he didn't. That wasn't the problem.

"But--"

"Teal'c!"

Both of them turned to see Sam running toward them down the hallway.

"We just got word from the Tok'ra," she said when she reached them. "They've accepted Shan'auc's offer."

Teal'c looked toward the closed door of Shan'auc's room. "When may we depart?" he asked.

"Now," Sam said. "Colonel O'Neill's waiting for us in the gear-up room."

She left, and Teal'c followed her. Daniel forced himself to remember that everyone been willing to let him leave to be with his brother and sister, so he had no right to tell Teal'c what to do, but _this_ was different. Wasn't it? Teal'c glanced back at him, as if to ask why he was still standing there, so Daniel took a breath and followed them.

XXXXX

**_22 September 2000; Vorash; 1200 hrs_ **

"Hebron," Jack said hours later as they trudged back from the Tok'ra base to the Stargate, preparing to return to Earth as soon as Teal'c finished talking to Shan'auc. Daniel wished he didn't have such a good idea of what kinds of things the two Jaffa were saying to each other. "I still don't think the guy understands what he's in for."

"The Tok'ra--" Sam started as they reached the 'gate and spread out to wait for Teal'c.

"Only take willing hosts," Jack interrupted. "Yeah, I know. Except when they're desperate, right, Major?"

"Jack," Daniel said sharply as Sam looked away.

"We did talk to him first, and we saw how willing he was," she said. "That has to count for something."

"You know," Jack said, gesturing sharply with a hand, "they're always talking about how they switch off control, and it's an equal relationship...how do we actually know that?"

" _I_ know it, sir," she said stiffly. "I remember Jolinar's intentions, and they don't make a habit of tricking their hosts."

"And I'm sure Jolinar was a fine, upstanding...crawling...snake," Jack said. "But what about this Tanith? Nothing against Shan'auc, but the Goa'uld have made a lifestyle of lying to Jaffa."

"Teal'c believes it," Daniel said, because that was the only assurance they had right now. And even that wasn't completely true. Teal'c believed in Shan'auc's good intentions. If Shan'auc had made a mistake, then they'd just doomed Hebron.

Jack raised his eyebrows. "I'll believe it when we get proof."

"There's no way to prove it," Sam said. "We'll probably have to judge based on the value of the intelligence he provides us."

Even then...Tanith could provide the Tok'ra with good information for a hundred years and then turn and betray them. Or he could provide them with bad information just once, and if it was bad enough, it could be the end of the Tok'ra, or of the Tau'ri. When a society was made up mostly of spies and undercover operatives, there were plenty of opportunities for other spies to slither into their ranks.

"Does Hebron know we're not sure about the snake in his head?" Jack said.

"Anise said he knew," Daniel said. "Knows."

"Oh, _Anise_ said."

"Sam and I asked specifically," Daniel said, "while you and Teal'c and...and Tanith were taking Shan'auc to be implanted again. Anise said Hebron knew the situation and the risks. He's the first generation of slaves starting to fight the Goa'uld on his planet and is willing to give himself for the cause if necessary."

Jack still looked suspicious. He turned to Sam, who tilted her head in a silent ' _yes, sir_.' "Bet they glossed over a few parts," Jack said. "How much did _your_ people understand about the Goa'uld when they were slaves, Daniel, before you came to the SGC?"

Daniel sighed, looking down. He was certain Anise had been telling the truth--that they'd warned Hebron of the risks--but he wouldn't be surprised if the warning had been rather short and not very explanatory.

"I'm really getting tired of this," Jack went on angrily. "What was that about--we handed over Goa'uld secrets and they'll tell us when the time is _appropriate_?"

Sam opened her mouth as if to defend the Tok'ra, then closed it. Daniel couldn't really think of a good argument, either. "At least they saved Shan'auc's life," he offered. "That's something."

"Did Teal'c say something to you, Daniel?" Jack said suddenly. "Carter says you were talking to him this morning."

Daniel ducked his head as Sam looked at him, too. "He thinks this is a turning point in the Jaffa rebellion," he hedged. "That he and Shan'auc could go and teach other Jaffa to communicate with their symbiotes. They could undermine the Goa'uld that way, starting from the infants."

"So it would be a more mutual relationship between Goa'uld and Jaffa--sustaining each other's life and not enslaving each other," Sam said, but she was frowning dubiously. "I don't know--"

"Hold on," Jack said. "Did you say _Teal'c and Shan'auc_ can go teach the Jaffa, as in--"

"Jack, let's just wait," Daniel said. "Maybe he'll...change his mind."

Which, of course, was all the answer they needed to know what had been said.

Teal'c was coming into view in the distance. Daniel turned and started to dial the DHD so he wouldn't have to answer anything else. Surely, Teal'c would change his mind once he'd had the chance to think harder about it.

...x...

But he didn't.

"I intend to live the remainder of my life on Chulak," Teal'c said, once they were all gathered again in the briefing room.

"What on Earth for?" Jack exclaimed.

"Do you not recognize the greatness of Shan'auc's achievement?" Teal'c said.

"And we got the secrets of the Goa'uld--" Daniel started.

"Or we will, once the Tok'ra stop hoarding it," Jack muttered.

"--so isn't that what we were trying to do? That's it, right?" Because Teal'c was as much a fixture in the SGC as Jack or General Hammond--he'd been there from the start. SG-1 was strong because of how they were as a team, with Teal'c as part of it. And Daniel was as strong as he was because of Teal'c, too, and what would happen if he abandoned them to go to one of Apophis's planets, where rebellion was bubbling but many people still hated his name?

"Yeah, Teal'c," Sam was saying, "even if you could train a large enough number of Jaffa to communicate with their symbiotes, the Tok'ra have a hard enough time finding hosts."

"The point is," Jack said sharply, voicing what Daniel couldn't, "you belong _here_."

"I belong where I am needed most, O'Neill," Teal'c said calmly, "and that is on Chulak at Shan'auc's side."

_And what about your son?_ Daniel didn't voice aloud. _What about your wife? What about us? What about me?_

Over the intercom, a technician called, _"Off-world activation!"_ and all further discussion had to be put aside.

In the control room, the technician clarified, "Incoming traveler, sir. It's the Tok'ra."

"Here to share squat with us, no doubt," Jack said.

"Open the iris," the general ordered.

But they'd only just returned from Vorash an hour ago--what could the Tok'ra possibly have to tell them about, especially with Tanith and Hebron still adjusting to the blending and Shan'auc still recovering? Unless it wasn't about that at all...

Anise stepped out, not dressed in her customary clothing, but rather covered in a robe that reminded Daniel of the most formal of Abydonian wear. She looked up at the control room window with an expression that Daniel couldn't quite see from this distance. Two more Tok'ra joined her, and they were carrying between them a stretcher, bearing something that looked like...a shrouded body.

Teal'c rushed down the stairs. The rest of them followed.

"Teal'c," Anise said directly to the Jaffa once they were in the control room. "It is with great sorrow that I return."

Daniel could see Teal'c's calm resolve disappear as he looked at the stretcher and understood. "Shan'auc," Teal'c whispered. He pulled the sheet back, and Daniel stared helplessly at Shan'auc's face, her eyes closed forever in death.

XXXXX

**_22 September 2000; Level 25 VIP Room, SGC; 1500 hrs_ **

In Shan'auc's room, Daniel found a neat pattern of candles, arrayed slightly differently from how Teal'c tended to do it but just as meticulously. She must have been in _kelno'reem_ at some point--in fact, she and Teal'c had probably spent a long time in meditation together the night before. Daniel decided he should be grateful that Shan'auc had at least had one last peaceful night with someone who cared about her.

The room hadn't been cleared yet. Teal'c was in _kelno'reem_ in his own quarters, so Daniel went to work.

The door opened behind him before he was halfway through. Jack and Sam both stepped in, then stopped upon seeing him there. "I'm putting these away," Daniel explained, pointing to the box where he'd been placing the half-melted candles Shan'auc must have borrowed from Teal'c.

"You can leave that, you know," Sam said. "It'll be cleaned up."

"I don't know if Teal'c will want them back."

"I don't think he will."

Daniel shrugged, carefully putting another candle in with the others. "You talk to him?" Jack asked him.

"He's not answering when I knock," Daniel said from where he was kneeling on the floor, picking at a spot of wax that had missed the holder and stuck onto the concrete. "But I suppose we should let him...uh...meditate for a while. What about Shan'auc's body? Did you...?"

"Yeah," Sam said. "Janet's taking care of everything. Once Teal'c comes out of _kelno'reem_ , we'll..." She sighed. "I don't know what the customs are on Chulak, but we'll try to accommodate as well as we can."

"He'll want the body burned," Daniel said. "And then he'll fast for three days. That's it, basically, as far as ritual goes--the rest is private."

"Well, we can do that," Jack said. He exchanged a glance with Sam. "I need to talk to him. I'll give him some time, but we need to know what's going on with him."

"He said he was leaving whether or not Shan'auc lived," Daniel said, flicking the melted wax into the box. "To put her...her life's work to good use."

"He told you that?" Sam said. Daniel nodded unhappily.

"I still think this whole 'communing with symbiotes' thing is a little suspicious," Jack said, sticking his hands into his pockets.

"Wait," Sam said abruptly. "Communing with the symbiote...you don't think he'd try it again without anyone spotting him?"

Jack thought for a moment, then pushed the door open. "I'm going to check on him."

He shut the door again as he left. Daniel stood and turned to finish gathering the candles that had been placed on top of the dresser. "This is...so weird," Sam said from somewhere behind him.

"Which part?" Daniel said.

Sam didn't answer. A moment later, she joined him. "I feel bad thinking this now, after Shan'auc..." She picked up a candle and turned it over in her hands. "I'm still not sure about this. Converting Goa'uld larva through telepathic rhetoric on a large scale..."

"Yeah. Do _you_ think Teal'c is going to leave?" he asked her.

"God, I hope not," she said immediately. "I can't imagine what it'd be like without him here."

"Me neither."

A sharp knock sounded at the door, but before they could answer it, Jack pushed the door open and stuck his head in. "Carter, tell Dr. Fraiser we need Shan'auc's body for testing," he said. "Teal'c thinks she was murdered."

...x...

Jack went with Teal'c back to Vorash. It was true that this was considered a diplomatic matter as well as an important strategic one, but Jack was probably the best choice; Daniel suspected his presence was mostly to make sure Teal'c didn't give into the temptation to take revenge. Ironically, for all they might have doubts about the Tok'ra's moral code, Daniel was pretty sure the Tok'ra cared about the hosts' survival--if not necessarily their will--more than Teal'c did, but they cared about Jaffa lives less. Jaffa revenge on Tanith could end well for no one.

Daniel left Sam as she and Janet finished cleaning Shan'auc's skin of Goa'uld blood and preparing the body until Teal'c returned for the proper rituals. He migrated to Teal'c's quarters to extinguish the candles the Jaffa had left lit there after the deep _kelno'reem_ that had showed him his father's murder.

He left one final candle lit and bowed before it. " _Ahu'at Shan'auc horu'es_ ," he offered." _Sei nehup'en; sokhi'yen qanot'as_."

As he blew out the flame, Sam's voice asked, "What d'you say?"

He turned to see her standing quietly in the doorway, pushing the door further open and flipping on the lights. "Uh," Daniel said, pinching the wick to stop the wisp of smoke that was still rising. "That...Shan'auc, who suffered, is at peace. We mourn her; we remember her courage." He straightened, leaving the box of Shan'auc's candles at the foot of Teal'c's bed.

Sam held the door open for him to step out with her. "Tanith," she sighed, leading the way toward the briefing room to wait for Teal'c and Jack. "You know, however improbable it seemed, part of me was really hoping..."

Daniel didn't answer. Part of _him_ was glad Teal'c wouldn't have reason to leave now that they knew communion with the symbiote was only false hope. The rest of him felt too guilty about that--about what they'd done to Hebron--to voice the thought.

"Do you think they'll extract Tanith?" she asked as they took their seats in the briefing room to wait for Jack and Teal'c to return.

"My worry," General Hammond said, joining them, "is that they'll want to use Tanith against Apophis. If he thinks he's a spy among the Tok'ra, he could do a lot of damage by passing false information to Apophis."

"They wouldn't..." Daniel started, but why not? If it was the first thing to come to the general's mind, it must be strategically sound. "Would they?"

"I can't imagine," Sam murmured, except Daniel thought she probably _could_ imagine it better than any of them, which was worse.

Then, he remembered their brief conversation with Anise, who had told them that Hebron knew _all_ the risks, that he was willing to give himself to the cause. Daniel had been thinking that perhaps it wouldn't be so bad--that Hebron would know that he was helping the Tok'ra and would be freed once Tanith had given them information. If he didn't resist...he wouldn't be free, but he at least might not be hurt by the symbiote, and he'd probably stay relatively safe and away from the true action within Tok'ra headquarters.

But now, he realized for the first time that Hebron couldn't have known there was a backup plan. If he'd known, then Tanith would have known as soon as they'd blended. If they were going to use Tanith, the Tok'ra _couldn't_ allow Hebron to know about it, and by presenting this to the Tok'ra--by allowing it to happen despite all the risks--they, the SGC, had made an innocent man into a host for a Goa'uld.

Daniel sighed and leaned forward on the table to wait for Jack and Teal'c to return.

XXXXX

**_25 September 2000; Teal'c's Quarters, SGC; 2030 hrs_ **

Three days later, Daniel was relieved when Teal'c's voice answered his knock with a calm, "Enter." He'd tried to talk to Teal'c just after Shan'auc's funeral, but, after being denied entrance, had decided it would be wiser to wait until the official days of mourning were over.

He pushed the door open and found Teal'c in the process of extinguishing the candles, his back turned. "I just wanted to...uh...say 'hello,'" Daniel said, lingering in the doorway.

"Are you not returning home with O'Neill, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c said.

"No, I'm staying here tonight," Daniel said. "Are you all right?"

Teal'c turned and said, "I do not wish to speak of Shan'auc."

"Actually, I was talking about the fact that you've been fasting for three days. I'm going to dinner now--do you want to...?" He pointed out the door. When Teal'c seemed indecisive, Daniel added, "A lot of personnel have gone home by now. We can go to the officers' mess if it's more empty--or I can get something and bring it back for you--"

"I will accompany you," Teal'c said.

Relieved, Daniel pushed the door open further and held it open for Teal'c before pulling it shut behind them. "Are you...I'm not going to say anything," he said quickly when Teal'c gave him a sideways look. "Just...tell me if you're okay and I won't mention it again."

"I am fine," Teal'c said.

Okay. So that might not have been the best way to get an honest answer. "How long can you sustain _kelno'reem_ without food and water?" he wondered aloud.

Teal'c gave him an odd look.

"Yeah. I don't know where that came from, either," Daniel said, nervous because he didn't know what to say. "Right. So. Let's talk about something else."

"Several days," Teal'c answered anyway. "I have never maintained such a state for more than one and a half of your weeks."

"Wow," Daniel said, highly impressed. He'd never gone even two days, and then only because he'd gotten stranded one time outside Nagada during a storm and by the time his father had found him, he'd been half-delirious already. But he supposed that someone who could stop his own heart from beating could probably control other things in his body, too, especially with the help of a symbiote.

"I was in a damaged _teltak_ with my mother," Teal'c said abruptly. Daniel looked up in surprise. "We were fleeing Cronus--I placed myself into a deep state of _kelno'reem_ in order to conserve the ship's life support long enough for us to reach Apophis's planet."

Oh. "This was...after Cronus killed your father?" By reaching into Ronac's belly and crushing the symbiote, apparently. Janet sometimes compared a Jaffa's symbiote to an internal organ. Daniel's only experience with a malfunctioning organ was his appendix, which hadn't been _crushed_ , and that was still an experience he hoped _never_ to repeat. He shuddered involuntarily at the thought.

"Indeed," Teal'c said, then grabbed a tray to find some leftover food for dinner.

"Jack and Sam didn't want to bother you," Daniel said, picking something at random, "so they went home for the night. If you hadn't come out of your room by tomorrow, Jack was going to break down the door, I think."

Teal'c scowled. "That is unnecessary," he said.

"Well," Daniel said, "the last time we talked to you, you'd resigned. So if you're wondering why people have been knocking on your door..."

"I do not intend to leave the SGC for a lie," Teal'c snapped.

"Yeah, that's what we figured," Daniel said, but he sank into a seat with a lot of relief, anyway. "It's still good to hear it from you."

Teal'c sat as well and began to eat methodically. Daniel hesitated for a moment, not sure whether he should press on, but Teal'c's studious quiet made him decide against it for a while in favor of concentrating on his own meal.

His resolve didn't last long, though, and he eventually pushed his tray aside. "On Wednesday, SG-14 is going to Washington--hopefully for the last time--to get the President's approval on our current draft of the treaty with the Tok'ra."

As he'd expected, Teal'c stopped immediately. Daniel tensed, but Teal'c only said, "I see," and continued eating, if somewhat more stiffly than before.

Daniel had been waiting for an argument and been prepared to convince Teal'c of the necessity of this treaty. As much as he was wary of working too closely with the Tok'ra, and as much as he was unhappy with certain parts of the Tok'ra society, he knew they'd reached a point in this war at which the Tau'ri could no longer depend solely on surprise tactics. The Goa'uld were learning their methods, and without help, the SGC was still far behind the enemy in many ways.

It wasn't until he saw Teal'c accept the idea of the alliance without threatening to dismember or at least thrash someone, even after all that had happened with Shan'auc and Tanith and Hebron, that he realized he'd been hoping, just a little, for Teal'c's anger to validate his own.

"Anyway," Daniel said, "if everything goes well, we're going to Vorash with SG-14 after that to settle on a final date for the Supreme High Councilor to come to Earth and meet our President. Uh, it'll be Martouf, Anise, Per'sus and his advisors representing the Tok'ra, and four people from the SGC. That's the two highest-ranking members of each team, so for us it's Jack and Sam--or you, but Sam volunteered, so you don't have to go if you don't want."

Personally, Daniel would prefer that Teal'c not get anywhere close enough to find and break Tanith's neck, partly because the Tok'ra would be mad and mostly because it would break Hebron's neck, too. There was just no good way to say that.

But Teal'c seemed to agree and said, "I will remain at the SGC during that time. Has there been further word from the Tok'ra?"

"Not since you were last there, no," Daniel said. "Obviously, they have to be very careful about anything Tanith tells them, since...well..."

"I understand. Clearly, his word cannot be so easily trusted."

"Right. And there's something else--Jack and I have been talking, and...uh...Bra'tac was in contact with Shan'auc, right? We can probably assume she knew at least something about who the rebel Jaffa were on Chulak."

Daniel willed him to hear the unspoken, _And Tanith saw her thoughts when she saw his_.

Teal'c looked up, considered, and nodded once. "I will go to Chulak and warn Bra'tac."

"We don't have a mission this week," Daniel offered. "We can go as soon as--"

"I have gone there numerous times in recent months," Teal'c reminded him. "It is safer if I proceed alone. You do not know Chulak as I do."

"That's what the general said," Daniel admitted.

"I will go as soon as the morning comes," Teal'c said.

"Okay." Feeling awkward, Daniel cleared his throat and blurted, "SG-15's been re-formed. They just came back from their first mission--a survey on a planet with unusual solar activity and an Ancient device right in front of the 'gate. And, Teal'c, the images they brought back are like the equivalent of _hundreds_ of pages of Ancient text. Sam wants to record...something, and I really, really want to take a look at the device. What do you think?"

Teal'c folded his hands on the table. "It is not necessary to step lightly around me, Daniel Jackson. We may speak of the Tok'ra or the Jaffa if you wish."

"Okay," Daniel said, "but seriously, what do you think about taking the follow-up for SG-15? If we want to read and figure out everything on that device, it'll take Sam and me a lot more time than SG-1 usually spends on purely research trips. You're okay with it?"

"I am," Teal'c said.

"Good," Daniel said. "Then maybe you'll help us convince Jack?"

"We must first resolve these negotiations with the Tok'ra," Teal'c pointed out. "Perhaps we should speak afterward of further missions."

Daniel nodded. "Right. That's true." He gulped his lukewarm coffee, then said, "Teal'c, I'm sorry about Shan'auc."

Teal'c tensed even more but still sounded calm enough as he said, "As I said, I do not wish to speak of her."

"Then don't, okay," Daniel said in a rush, "but just let me say I know she meant a lot to you, and I'm really sorry."

It was a long while before Teal'c spoke again, but when he did, he said only, "As am I."

By then, Daniel wasn't very hungry anymore, so he cupped his hands around his mug and sat waiting for Teal'c to say something else. Once again, his patience proved shorter than Teal'c's, and he said, "I need to ask something of you."

Teal'c looked wary. "You may ask."

Daniel took a swallow of coffee for courage, then said quickly, "When the time comes, don't be rash with Tanith."

Immediately, Teal'c's face was inches from his own. "I will have vengeance for Shan'auc. No one will take that from me--not the Tok'ra and not you."

"I don't begrudge you that," Daniel said, glad he hadn't chosen to bring this up during a training session in the gym. "I'm just asking you to...to think twice before killing an innocent host."

Teal'c didn't move, except to clench his fist around a cup of water until the plastic started to bend. "There is not always a better choice, with the Goa'uld," he said.

"I know," Daniel said, still holding his coffee mug like a pathetic shield between himself and Teal'c's rage. "But if there's a choice, let the Tok'ra extract Tanith, and you can crush the Goa'uld yourself. Just... Hebron gave himself to our cause and we failed him. He deserves better."

"You mean that Shan'auc failed him," Teal'c said in a low, dangerous voice.

"I meant what I said," Daniel returned. "She came to us for help, we went to the Tok'ra, the Tok'ra found Hebron. We, as SG-1 and the SGC, failed both Shan'auc and Hebron, but we can't...make up for the death of one by killing the other, too."

Finally, Teal'c straightened. "I am not like you, Daniel Jackson. I cannot bless a man who wears the face of a Goa'uld I hate."

Daniel looked down, because his and Robert's blessings hadn't done any good to the host of Apophis, and given the slightest chance, he knew he'd kill Apophis, host and all. He hoped he would have the strength to think of the host first, but he knew all too well what it was to want vengeance. "I'm not asking you to pray for Tanith's host, Teal'c. Just don't kill him, either."

"I may be forced to do so," Teal'c said. "I cannot promise you such a thing."

"Well, promise me that you'd try if you could," Daniel insisted. "If...if we're in a controlled situation." Teal'c inclined his head very slightly but didn't answer aloud. Daniel supposed that was all he could ask for. He picked up his fork, then replaced it carefully on the plate. "You're really staying?" he said to the table.

"Indeed," Teal'c said.

"Good," Daniel said. "I didn't want you to leave."

"I was not leaving you, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said quietly. Daniel nodded, even though he _had_ come close to doing just that. "One day, I will leave the SGC," Teal'c said, making Daniel look up. "I cannot say if it will be to rejoin my fellow Jaffa in their fight for freedom or if I will fall in battle first, but the day will come. Know that it will not be for a wish to part with the brothers I have found on this planet."

Daniel swallowed. He'd known that, but it had never come so close to being reality before. "Of course," he said lightly. "Just, uh...pick somewhere we can visit you, yeah?"

Teal'c looked like he wasn't sure whether that was supposed to be taken seriously. "I will endeavor to do so," he said.


	5. SG-14

**_30 September 2000; Vorash; 1100 hrs_ **

When the day came, Daniel found himself waiting in a side chamber with Lieutenant Astor and Sergeant Lewis while the rest of SG-1 and -14 joined Martouf and Anise in the main meeting chamber. Lewis was drumming his fingers against the table. Astor looked like she was barely stopping herself from joining him.

"Bet you wish you were in there," she said to Daniel, tilting her head to the corridor.

"I should have brought something to read," he sighed, looking at his watch yet again.

"It's probably for the best," Lewis said. "If Mr. Hardass Jackson went in, who knows if anyone'd come out in one piece?"

Startled, Daniel looked up. "What?"

"You're like the secret weapon no one sees coming," Lewis went on, widening his eyes. "Whew, that spiel you gave to the High Council's _face_? We should leave the niceties to someone less blunt. Like Colonel O'Neill."

Astor grinned, and Daniel realized they'd been teasing him. It did no good to explain that he'd been less in control of his temper than he would have liked the last time they'd been to Vorash together. "I don't usually yell at Tok'ra Councilors when I come here," he muttered.

Lewis shrugged. "Got us a foothold in some stiff backs."

"It's not the way diplomacy should be handled," he insisted.

"Hey, when life gives you lemons," Astor said, and then didn't finish the sentence.

"What?" Daniel said again.

"Lemonade," Lewis said unhelpfully.

Daniel sighed and wished for a book to read.

To pass the time, he bent down to see the underside of the table, examining the rough surface. "Do you think this is crystal?" he asked, wondering at the contrast between the smooth upper surface and the rocky underside, where there seemed to be crystals growing out of it. "Did they cut it out of the walls or grow it? It's not like it would fit through the rings."

Astor snorted from somewhere above him and to his left.

"I mean," Daniel clarified, "they have those...those small crystals that they use to grow the tunnels, but they can't make new material where there was none before, right? So does it...restructure the rock, or does it somehow seed...hm." He frowned, tapping a fingernail against the bottom of the table as he craned his head upward to look.

"I don't think we're the right people to ask, Daniel," Lewis said, his voice coming from somewhat farther away from Astor's.

"I guess I should ask Sam, huh," Daniel acknowledged, still looking at the crystals. They were quite interesting, actually--he wondered what they were made of.

A patter of soft footsteps caught his attention. "Whoa-ho, hey, there," Astor's voice said, and then someone very small bent down to look at Daniel.

"Uh," Daniel said, looking in confusion at the little boy now sharing the space under the table with him. "Hi," he said. "Who are you?"

"I'm Charlie," the boy said, then looked upward. "Kar'tak says not to play under here."

"Kar'tak?" Daniel said as he realized this was the boy who had warned them about the Reetou and whom Jack had sent here last year. After being told the boy was dying of a body made wrong, it was amazing to see him looking so healthy. Some hosts, it seemed, fared very well with the Tok'ra.

It was still a bit of a shock, though, when Charlie dipped his head, then raised it again with glowing eyes. "I am Kar'tak," the Tok'ra said in a distorted child's voice.

"Oh. Um. Nice to...meet you," Daniel said, trying not to sound disoriented. "It's, uh...so why haven't we met before?"

"Much more time than usual was necessary to acclimate to me, because of Charlie's youth, and even his growth has been slowed by the blending," Kar'tak said. "We are both learning one another now. It would help us," he added, "if Charlie were not allowed to see members of the SGC crawling on the floor."

"Here," Astor said, bending and sticking her head under the table, too and holding out a hand, another ready to stop the boy from hitting his head. "Charlie, let's get out from under there, okay? Why don't you show me where you're supposed to be right now."

Kar'tak blinked. Charlie smiled at Astor and took her hand, ducking back out. "Do you want to see my room?" the boy asked her.

"Oh, well, I'm not really supposed to go too far...but I guess I can walk you back there," her voice said. "Sarge, try to keep Jackson in line," she added from a distance as they walked away.

Still crouching under the table, Daniel watched the two of them leave from the side door. "I wasn't crawling on the floor," he said when he heard Lewis snicker. "I was just wondering if Tok'ra crystals are related to Goa'uld control crystals. Sam says those work by structural breakdown to release energy--but if Tok'ra crystals _build_ structured material, where do they get the energy?"

Then a new, unfamiliar, blended voice said, "From the stations into which the Tok'ra crystals are inserted for activation. Those stations are indeed powered by the conventional control crystals used by the Goa'uld."

Daniel heard a chair scrape against the stone floor. He scrambled to come to his feet and turn around and hit his head instead on the bottom of the table. "Ow," he said, squeezing his eyes shut and rubbing his head.

"Sir," Lewis's voice said.

Stepping out more carefully, Daniel flushed in mortification when he saw an unfamiliar man flanked by two bodyguards, the only Tok'ra he'd seen down here to be guarded personally. "I'm--I apologize," he said, dusting off his hands. "Y-you must be Supreme High Councilor Per'sus. It's, uh...an honor to meet you." He smoothed his jacket nervously.

"And you must be the Abydon Daniel Jackson," Per'sus said, making Daniel wonder what it was, exactly, that Per'sus had heard of him. "And...Sergeant Lewis of Tau'ri. I am late to the meeting with the rest of your delegation, but you are of course welcome to ask our scientists should you be curious about the technical aspects of our technologies, Mr. Jackson."

"Yes, sir," Daniel said, bowing and deciding not to mention that he wasn't all that interested in the technical aspects of anything except how much longer the meeting was going to take.

Per'sus nodded to them and left in the direction of the main meeting room. Daniel felt it best to keep his head down as the High Councilor passed.

When the sound of footsteps faded, Daniel straightened again and met Lewis's eyes, which were wider than usual. "Oops," he said.

Astor reappeared in the doorway, then stopped when she saw the two of them standing at attention. "What happened?" she said.

"Just a little more diplomacy the Daniel Jackson way, ma'am," Lewis said. "The High Councilor showed up while he was under the table."

She raised her eyebrows, then said, "Can't take you anywhere. Sit down--in a chair--and stay seated until someone gives you permission to move, huh?"

"Yes, ma'am," Daniel agreed, sliding back into his chair.

It was shortly after that, however, that a shout came from the main room beyond.

Daniel rose without permission, but the other two were on their feet, too. "That was Jack's voice," he said.

Astor led the way toward the tunnel leading out, only for two Tok'ra to block their path. "What's going on?" she demanded.

"You must remain here until the situation has been resolved," one of the Tok'ra guards said.

In the distance, Jack yelled, _"Graham!"_

"Oh, god," Astor said, and then, "Just tell us what the hell's going on!"

"An assassination attempt was made on the High Councilor Per'sus," one man said. "The circumstances remain unclear. Please remain calm."

"What?" Daniel blurted. "Remain _calm?_ "

And then a loud explosion sounded. Daniel flinched reflexively, even from this distance. "Holy..." Lewis breathed as Daniel stared, frozen, in the direction of the meeting chamber. "What's happening in there?"

Beyond the two guards, several Tok'ra were running by, and it looked like they were carrying--

"Is that the High Councilor?" Lewis said. "Is he alive?"

Astor whipped her head around to follow his gaze. "Per'sus is hurt? Whatever it is, at least let us help!"

" _Re nok,_ " one of the men carrying Per'sus was calling. " _Kree! Nok ne'naé kek!_ "

"He must be hurt," Daniel said, hearing the conversation.

"I am uncertain of the circumstances," the Tok'ra said again.

Daniel bit his tongue before he asked whether anyone else was hurt, because these guards had been there with them from the first alarm, and there was no way they would know. He stood on his toes and tried to see past them into the tunnels.

Finally, Martouf stepped into sight. " _Tok'ra, kal shak. Ar'ee,_ " he ordered, and the guards stepped aside. "SG-14," he went on, "please come with me."

"W-what about me?" Daniel said as Astor and Lewis stepped out anxiously. "Is anyone hurt?"

Martouf hesitated, then said, "Your team is unharmed, Daniel. Colonel O'Neill wishes you to remain here until we have been able to attend to the victims of this attack."

And then Astor said sharply, "Victims? _His_ team is unharmed?"

Daniel dropped numbly back into a seat as Martouf said softly, "I am sorry, Lieutenant, Sergeant. Please come with me."

XXXXX

**_30 September 2000; Vorash; 1200 hrs_ **

When SG-14 returned, Astor and Lewis were carrying a stretcher between them. Daniel stood again and recognized Captain Blasdale lying on top. Lewis's jacket was draped across the captain's chest; Daniel wasn't sure he wanted to know what it looked like under there.

For a moment, Daniel thought Blasdale might just be wounded--unconscious, maybe, and resting. Then he noted how slowly and carefully Astor and Lewis were carrying him, and that they were heading toward the ring platform instead of the Tok'ra medical facility. "Gods," Daniel said as the two neared. "I'm sorry. Is Major Graham...?"

Astor made a sound that was something between a gasp and a sob. "They're cleaning... There was a lot of...damage..." She stopped. Two Tok'ra appeared in the tunnel behind them, carrying another stretcher between them. This time, the body was completely covered in a sheet, but spots of blood were starting to stain the material, and the bottom of one boot was visible. There was no doubt about who this was.

"Kristen--come on," Lewis said.

"I'm so sorry," Daniel said again, bowing his head as they passed. "Can I do anything?"

"We got 'em," Astor said more steadily. "You can, uh...go ahead in."

Everyone had always been wary about keeping a sarcophagus on base--it seemed too much of a temptation. It wasn't until they'd lost it that Daniel had started to miss it.

A procession of four Tok'ra passed them as he made his way toward the chamber, bearing another two stretchers between them--the bodies were Tok'ra, this time, and not covered. Daniel found himself staring at the holes in their chests. The wounds were too well cauterized for a Tau'ri gun to have caused them, but they were also too focused and penetrated too far through the bodies to have been caused by a staff weapon. One of the Tok'ra looked at him, and he tore his gaze away to continue toward the meeting chamber.

A look around the room showed Jack and Sam--both unhurt, as Martouf had promised--standing near Anise. As Daniel approached, Martouf was saying, "Fortunately, High Councilor Per'sus is going to recover."

"What happened?" Daniel asked.

"I'd like to know that," Jack said, sharp and angry in that way that meant he was shaken.

Sam shook her head, looking stunned. "As soon as the High Councilor came in and Martouf introduced us...Major Graham attacked him and tried to shoot up the room."

Daniel's eyebrows shot up. "No way," he denied. "Graham would never...and I thought none of us even brought weapons!"

Jack looked like he was very much regretting the decision not to bring a weapon. "Well, Graham had one. It was like a...a little ring."

"It seemed to be of Goa'uld origin," Martouf added.

There was no way Major Graham would have gotten one without anyone's knowing, and even if he had, he was--had been--a good man who'd worked hard in support of Tok'ra relations. Graham wouldn't have done this, and he certainly wouldn't have killed his own teammate. "A _hara'kesh_?" Daniel said, because that was the only ring-like weapon of Goa'uld origin he'd heard of, though he'd never seen one himself.

It was Sam, surprisingly, who answered by shaking her head. "No. A _hara'kesh_ is like a hand device but smaller--it's what the _ashrak_ used on Jolinar--and it requires naquadah in the blood. This thing was almost like a concentrated staff weapon in ring form."

"Look, Martouf..." Jack started.

"Obviously," Martouf said, "I do not believe you were complicit with Major Graham's actions."

A little suspicious--because if this had happened at the SGC, security would be swarming, and the Tok'ra put Tau'ri paranoia to shame--Daniel said, "Well, we weren't, but how can you be sure?"

Martouf tilted his head. "I cannot," he said, but he was looking at Sam, so Daniel supposed they should be glad to have someone among the Tok'ra who trusted them personally rather than only thinking of the cause and their part in it.

But Freya finally spoke up. "I can. Major Graham was a _zatarc_."

"A what?" Jack said.

...x...

**_30 September 2000; General Hammond's Office, SGC; 1330 hrs_ **

"A _zatarc_?" the general repeated when Daniel was sent back to brief him and Teal'c on the situation.

"I have never heard such a term," Teal'c said.

"It means he was a victim of Goa'uld mind-control technology," Daniel explained. "Freya thinks a mission can be programmed into the subconscious and covered with a false memory so the victim doesn't even know he or she is a victim. But when the _zatarc_ sees the right person or hears... Basically, there's a trigger, and then he's forced to carry out his mission or...or, uh..."

"Self-destruct," the general said grimly, rubbing his chin. "Then in this case, we think the Tok'ra Supreme High Councilor was the target."

"It would seem that the Goa'uld are aware of our alliance," Teal'c said, "and are attempting to prevent it."

"Yeah," Daniel said. "The Tok'ra still want to hold the summit next week, but--"

"If the Goa'uld knew of the alliance, then they could know about the summit, too," the general said. "The President--and any number of other key personnel on this base--could be as much of a target as the High Councilor. I can't allow our nation's leader to be put in that situation."

Daniel nodded. "Yes, sir, that was Jack's opinion, too. Freya believes it only takes a few moments of access to program a _zatarc_. In fact, later they said the weapon Major Graham was using is similar to a type of...well, it's like a _hara'kesh_ ," he said to Teal'c.

"A weapon worn as a ring," Teal'c explained to the general, "able to induce memory loss and suggestibility as well as causing much pain and destruction."

"Right. These have been modified to allow human use without the naquadah requirement, and there are other differences, but it could be how the programming happens and is later carried out. Any of us--or them--could be a _zatarc_ without knowing it ourselves."

"Then we can just search all personnel for this device Major Graham used," the general said.

"Well, Freya says one of the Tok'ra _zatarcs_ didn't have one and just went berserk anyway--he opened fire with a _zat'nik'tel_ ," Daniel said. "Anyone who _has_ one of those weapons is almost certain to be a _zatarc_ , but we can't assume someone's safe just because he or she _doesn't_ have one."

"Why have we never seen such a tactic before?" Teal'c asked.

"Freya's first documented case among the Tok'ra operatives was from about two months ago. In fact, the Tok'ra have never seen something like this before, either, which was why the High Council was reluctant to believe her theory."

"Then it is, in fact, only a theory."

"Yes," Daniel said, "and from what they've explained so far, there's more speculation than data--it's hard to gather tangible evidence because they...commit suicide afterward. Anise is unsure, but she agrees with Freya that it should be investigated."

"I'm not sure I want to jump through more hoops for something that one half of a Tok'ra is theorizing," the general said, frowning.

Daniel grimaced. "Well, yes, sir. Still...I don't understand the technology, but Major Graham worked hard for this alliance. He would _not_ have tried to assassinate High Councilor Per'sus--I would stake a lot on that."

"I would have staked a lot on Robert Makepeace's loyalty to this command," General Hammond said.

"I--" Daniel started, but he stopped himself. He'd have said the same thing about Makepeace before he'd found out that the man had been working for the rogue NID operation. The only objective difference here was that Daniel had liked Major Graham, while he and Makepeace had had a lukewarm relationship at the best of times and an openly hostile one at the worst. That was no way to judge a man's allegiance.

Daniel hated feeling like he should be suspicious everyone around him. The SGC had become his home, and they were all supposed to be on the same side.

"I'm not saying you're wrong," the general said when it became clear Daniel wasn't going to disagree. "You have good instincts with these matters, Mr. Jackson, but we have to consider every possibility, with stakes this high. If there's no other evidence either way..."

"Wait," Daniel said, latching onto something SG-1 had said about the attack. "Jack said that just before he...killed himself, Graham was begging for them to stop him."

General Hammond sighed. "That does sound like mind-control to me."

"We can be sure _something_ is going on," Daniel agreed. He couldn't even decide whether that made him feel better, that Graham had been an innocent man but that he'd been forced to do something terrible. "Whether or not Freya is right, she really believes it. I don't think it would hurt to test people over the next couple of days using the Tok'ra's device--like SG-14," he added reluctantly. "If she's right, then we know their team was in a position to be programmed."

"And if she's wrong," the general said, "then we're forcing two people in mourning to relieve their last traumatic mission for nothing." Daniel shifted uncomfortably, but the general shook his head. "Of course, base security must come first. Lieutenant Astor and Sergeant Lewis would both agree. This testing or...detection device--it doesn't physically hurt a person?"

"Um...I don't think so. They're explaining it to Sam right now before bringing it here. Apparently, it's like a lie detector--to detect the false memory that hides the programming--but it shouldn't hurt. Beyond that, I couldn't tell you, sir."

"We'd have to test everyone," the general said.

"Everyone who's come into contact with the Goa'uld or a Goa'uld planet over the last two months," Daniel said. He paused, thinking, then amended, "Well, I suppose it should really be anyone who's gone off-world at all, since the false memory could have disguised contact with Goa'uld forces. Except those whose whereabouts and actions can be fully accounted for by someone who already tested negative."

"Everyone who's gone into the field during that time, then, both SG officers and temporary attachés--and we need to ask about every aspect of every mission that someone could have been compromised on," the general said, and even he looked daunted at that idea. "I'll recall all off-world teams. Once Anise and Martouf arrive, we'll start with SG-14."

XXXXX

**_30 September 2000; SGC; 1800 hrs_ **

The last time SG-14 had encountered Goa'uld off-world was on P6Y-325, the mission over a month ago when the original SG-15 had been killed and SG-14 itself had only barely survived the attack.

Lieutenant Astor was the first to be tested with the _zatarc_ detector.

She was also first to fail.

Sergeant Lewis, very pale by then and very subdued, went next and was declared not a _zatarc_. It had been a close thing--he'd hesitated almost too long before admitting that he and Captain Blasdale had been separated from both Graham and Astor for quite a while, apparently reluctant to contribute evidence that might condemn his last remaining teammate.

As they watched from the observation deck, General Hammond said quietly, "I remember that."

Daniel hadn't been there, so Sam explained to him quietly, "They thought Major Graham and Lieutenant Astor were right behind them, but it was over a minute before they actually came through."

_"Sergeant Lewis is not a_ zatarc _,"_ Freya's voice called to them from the lab.

_"Oh, god,"_ Lewis said, even as the SFs began to undo the straps holding him in place. _"But what about Lieutenant Astor? She can't... General Hammond? Sir?"_

"Stay calm, son," the general said into the microphone. "We'll figure this out."

Lewis was escorted out of the lab. As soon as he was gone, Freya called, _"General, the detector was very clear about Lieutenant Astor."_

"Come up to my office," the general ordered, then stepped out of the observation deck, the rest of them trailing after him. "Colonel O'Neill, Martouf, you too. Teal'c, make sure all the recalled teams are getting back and are ready for testing. Major Carter, Mr. Jackson, I need someone to speak with Lieutenant Astor."

Astor was in a low-security holding cell. When the guards opened the door, they found her sitting on her bed, her legs pulled up to her chest, and Sergeant Lewis already in a chair next to her in the room.

"Sarge told me," she said dully as Daniel and Sam walked in. "So I'm one of these...what-do-you-call-'ems."

"According to that device...yes, you could be a _zatarc_ ," Sam said.

"Ma'am, this is a load of crap," Lewis said angrily. No one told him to watch his language. 'Sarge' wasn't official or proper address for a sergeant; it was closer to a nickname. The two of them were good friends, had obviously found a comfortable balance between his longer experience and her higher rank, and after everything they'd been through recently, no one wanted to berate them for anything. "You almost died the last time we trusted this Tok'ra and her technology."

"Wouldn't I know?" Astor said. "How could I not know? My memory of that night...god, I can still see it like it was yesterday."

"We understand, Lieutenant," Sam said. "And it's true we don't have hard evidence, but...well, you saw Major Graham. This thing that's happening is very real." Both of them flinched at the reminder. "We just want to prevent it from happening again. As far as we know, the programming is triggered by a signal, so you should be safe in here until we know more."

"For how long?" Lewis said.

"They're reviewing notes and discussing options now," Daniel said. "We know Anise can be rash with experiments, but she really is very good with technology, even among the Tok'ra." She was one of their best scientists, he'd been told, in technology _and_ culture--Tok'ra scientists didn't make the distinctions that the Tau'ri often did between hard and social sciences.

"Martouf's no slouch, either," Sam added, "and he's very careful. With everyone working together, we have a good chance of figuring this out."

"Major Graham killed himself," Astor said, hugging her knees. "That's what you said. What if I just..." She held her fingers in the shape of a gun and pointed at her head.

Lewis pulled her hand away from her temple. "That's not gonna happen. Right, Major?" he added to Sam, looking less angry now and more desperate. Their CO and his 2IC had died only hours ago, after all, and now this...

"We don't want you hurt, Lieutenant, and we're going to do everything we can to learn more about this," Sam said. "You're being monitored, and there are SFs just outside--they're for your own protection as much as anyone else's. But like I said, without a trigger, you should be safe."

"Yes, ma'am," Astor said quietly.

"Is there anything we can bring you while you're waiting?" Daniel said. "Do you want someone to stay with you, or...?"

She tipped her head back to lean against the wall behind her. "I want this day to be over," she said miserably.

"May I stay here, Major?" Lewis asked.

Astor shook her head, unfolding her legs. "No, Matt, you don't have to--"

"It's all right," Sam said, nodding in understanding, though Daniel could tell from the way she was standing that she was uncomfortable in the face of their collective grief. "It's up to you. Just let someone know if you need anything."

...x...

In the end, though, Daniel couldn't help thinking they'd broken a promise to Astor, and to Lewis by extension. They'd told her they would keep her safe and then given her a choice between possible brain damage and life imprisonment. Daniel didn't think he'd ever have been able to choose the former, even if the latter was his only alternative. He wondered if she would have chosen it at all if she hadn't known that Major Graham had killed Captain Blasdale.

Lewis was with them this time as they watched from the observation deck.

_"So this thing's gonna...destroy the part of my brain with the programming in it?"_ Astor said, looking nearly petrified as she eyed the straps on the chair.

_"That is correct,"_ Freya said.

_"God help me,"_ she said, and then sat down tensely, looking toward them at the window. _"I have to admit--I'm a little scared. Actually, that's not true; I'm terrified."_ Lewis shifted uncomfortably, then stilled and stood at parade rest, watching Astor get strapped in.

_"I understand,"_ Freya told her gently. _"Please try to stay calm. I am going to begin."_

Beside Daniel's seat, Jack stood tensely, exchanging a glance with Teal'c, who seemed just as untrusting of Tok'ra technology as Jack was. As a beam shot forth from the machine, Daniel felt himself lean forward in fascination, despite everything.

And then, because they'd said they didn't want her to be hurt, Martouf ordered Anise to stop the procedure when Astor started screaming, and--

Astor ripped the bonds from around her arms and launched herself out of her chair, propelling two SFs into a wall, where one slumped to the ground. Even as the other pulled his weapon, she whirled and threw him into the wall, too, reaching for his gun. Footsteps made Daniel turn to see Jack run out of the observation deck, and then--

" _Yahs!_ " Teal'c ordered, and Daniel dropped to the floor as Sam called, "Get down!"

A bullet struck the window in front of where Daniel's face had been a moment ago. Cracks spread until Daniel couldn't see anymore, but he heard it when another bullet struck. A few shards of glass sprinkled around them, and Daniel brought his arm up to protect his face, pressing himself against a side wall. Sam pulled the general to the floor next to him.

"Kristen!" Lewis's voice said.

"No, stay down," Martouf was telling someone.

Then the sound of bullets on glass stopped. Daniel raised his head and looked for a spot in the window where cracks hadn't completely obscured his sight. From the lab, Jack's voice yelled, _"Astor!"_

Then Freya's, _"No!"_

And then there was another gunshot, and it was over.

...x...

"I know it probably doesn't help," Daniel said, meeting Sergeant Lewis's eyes because anything else would be dishonoring the man and those he'd lost, "but we're all...very sorry for your..." His own throat was trying to tighten. He cleared his throat. "I'm so sorry, Sergeant."

Lewis nodded once.

Daniel opened his mouth to say something else but closed it when there was nothing else to say. Losing any man or woman in the line of duty was bad enough; when it was a teammate...teams were more than just groups of good friends and strong comrades. Daniel could imagine little worse than being the last one standing, watching the rest of the team fall one by one.

"Any word on the SFs who were injured?" Lewis asked hoarsely.

"Dr. Fraiser and the medical personnel are working on them," Daniel said. "They're optimistic, but the general's staying with them now until we're sure." They were working on Astor's autopsy around there, too. He didn't mention that. "And the rest of SG-1 is...tidying up in the lab, but they asked me to tell you..."

"Condolences?" Lewis guessed. "I know. The lieutenant was the most junior member on my team. I went with her the first time she ran an errand like this." He gestured vaguely toward Daniel.

"It's...not just an errand," Daniel said. "They need to take precautions and...and try to ensure that this doesn't happen again, but I wanted to...truly, anything we can do for you, anyone on our team would..." He bit his lip. "The four of us personally admitted Lieutenant Astor into the program last year--she was in my department, and I admired her work and her...her..."

"Her," Lewis filled in.

Daniel nodded, suddenly remembering a younger Astor shielding his body with her own to protect him during her field testing, her hand bracing him when he'd thought his team was doomed, her mischievous grin when she teased him--as she'd always done since her first day in the program--about being young and alien and strange. "Yes. We have nothing but the highest respect for your whole team and for all you've done."

"What a way to go," Lewis said, his voice tight. "Your last act is shooting your own friends, injuring coworkers, k-killing yourse--" He pinched the bridge of his nose.

After a moment, Daniel asked, "Is there anyone you'd like to be here now? Or would you prefer to be alone?"

"What about the treaty?" Lewis said abruptly, raising his gaze again without answering the question. "That was our team's project--what's the general say about that? There are still parts to work on."

Daniel took a breath. "The rest of the SG teams need to be tested with the _zatarc_ detector," he said. "If no other _zatarc_ is found, then the summit will take place as planned. If you'd like to participate in finalizing the treaty, you can. Otherwise, SG-1 can take over. Martouf will be staying to help, so between us, we're familiar enough with the document, this nation, and the political situation at hand."

For a moment, it looked like Lewis was going to say he'd continue and do it--after all, SG-14 had rallied well enough after that disastrous mission to the Lasarians that had killed six of their comrades. Then again, that time, there had been an SG-14 around which to rally. Lewis seemed to deflate in his seat. "That'd be good," he said. "I don't know if I'd be any use..." He trailed off.

"We'll take care of it, Sergeant," Daniel promised.

"What if there are more _zatarcs_?"

"I don't know," Daniel said honestly. "Freya went to review her notes and see if there's anything else to find. Sam and Martouf are examining the mechanism of that device, trying to figure out what went wrong...but I don't think we know yet what'll happen if it comes to that."

"Jesus, Daniel," Lewis breathed, and then stood. "I told Kristen it was a bad idea."

"I am so sorry," he said again. Awkwardly, he went on, "You're, uh...well, since you've done the...the testing, you're free to go home or to stay in the guest quarters if you'd like. If you need someone to drive you, I can ask someone in the duty office to--"

"No, I...I got it."

Daniel watched Sergeant Lewis walk out in a daze. When the man was out of sight, he took off his glasses and scrubbed a hand down his face to try to bring himself back to better focus. Finally, he took a deep breath and went to the infirmary.

The general was on his way out when he arrived, Jack behind him. "I need to inform the President," the general said. "How was Sergeant Lewis?"

"He..." Daniel searched for a way to describe the sergeant's mental state, then gave up and said, "He was very close with them, especially Kristen. Lieutenant Astor."

"I remember," the general said softly. "He went out of his way to show her the ropes when she first joined the team."

"He's gone home now. SG-1 will need to pick up final treaty revisions."

With a nod, the general said, "We have four days before the President is scheduled to arrive. In that time, we need to finish the _zatarc_ testing and anything that still needs to be changed in the treaty. SG-1 will be tested first, and after that, I'd like Major Carter and Teal'c to continue assisting Anise and Dr. Fraiser with the rest of the testing while you two"--the general pointed to Jack and Daniel--"work with Martouf on those revisions."

Jack grimaced in distaste, so Daniel kept a straight face as he said, "I'll need to review SG-14's notes from their last meeting with the President, sir."

"I'll make sure you have access," the general said. "In the meantime, we'll start testing SG-1. Teal'c and Dr. Fraiser are reviewing your last several mission reports right now for potentially relevant missions."

...x...

An airman let Daniel into Major Graham's office, where, feeling like a grave robber, Daniel found the section of the man's desk where he'd kept all records related to the Tok'ra treaty. He flipped quickly through them and pulled the ones he needed, then joined the general, Janet, Martouf, and the rest of his team in the observation deck above the lab.

The most prominent recent mission in which SG-1 had had contact with Goa'uld forces was the mission to PX9-757, where Jack and Sam, wearing the Atanik armbands, had destroyed Apophis's mothership.

As Daniel skimmed Major Graham's reports and jotted a few notes of his own, he heard Teal'c saying below, _"General Hammond ordered me to follow. I went through the 'gate and proceeded to the facility."_

Jack winced almost imperceptibly. Sam shrank a little in her seat.

Freya glanced up from her notes and said, _"So you were alone for some time before meeting with the rest of SG-1?"_

_"Yes,"_ Teal'c said.

Graham had made a note that the President was uncomfortable with the wording in certain parts--'for the common interests of the Tok'ra and the humans of Earth,' for one--so Daniel leaned back to listen to Teal'c's testimony with one ear while he thought about what to do with the treaty. Remembering something Major Davis had mentioned last year about the SGC's acting on behalf of the entire world when only a very few people knew about the SGC, and noting that the President was apparently wary about the confines of what fell into the category of 'common interests' between the two peoples, and what it was committing them to...

"For the..." Daniel said aloud quietly, sounding out other possibilities as he scribbled. "For... In pursuit of...of freedom for...all individuals."

Which was very broad, granted, but it gave them leeway in their actions, as well as avoiding the appearance that the President was the leader of the entire planet. He'd ask Jack or someone else later for another opinion.

_"Please repeat that sequence,"_ Freya was saying below.

Daniel looked up briefly at the monitor, only to stop what he was doing when he saw the bright, circular pattern that had marked Astor as a _zatarc_. Beside him, Jack sat up straighter, too, and Sam's eyes were wide and fixed on the screen.

_"An alarm had been sounded,"_ Teal'c said. _"Energy force shields were raised shortly after Major Carter and I escaped the mothership into the tunnel in the mountain. Colonel O'Neill's armband ceased to function at that point, and he was unable to escape."_

The detector's reading returned to normal. _"But you could have escaped with Major Carter,"_ Freya clarified.

_"Indeed."_

_"Why did you stay?"_

_"I countermanded Colonel O'Neill's order to leave,"_ Teal'c said unhesitatingly. _"The mission had been completed--Major Carter and I did not wish to leave without O'Neill."_

Daniel shivered, fully appreciating for the first time how dire the situation had been. But it was just then that the circular pattern on the monitor began to swirl again. Freya turned around toward the observation window. "No," Daniel said. "No, that's not--"

Sam stood and reached determinedly for the microphone. "Teal'c," she said, "the detector gauges your description of your emotional state, too. Anything that could be counted as holding back can be judged as a lie. Remember how it felt to stand there on the other side of the force shield?"

Teal'c's eyes flicked up toward her, landed on Jack, and then turned back to Freya. _"I was extremely angry with Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter for putting themselves in that position,"_ he said. _"I believed we were likely about to die."_

"Teal'c," Sam said when the pattern didn't change.

_"I was...afraid that O'Neill would not free himself in time to escape the explosion and that Major Carter would die along with him,"_ Teal'c said, glowering. Daniel didn't think he'd ever heard the Jaffa say that he was afraid before. When the pattern didn't change, Freya didn't move, and Teal'c finally said in a low voice, _"I was also extremely angry with Anise."_

"Ah!" Jack said, pointing triumphantly at the monitor as the detector's reading cleared and returned to the baseline. "There we go."

General Hammond sighed in relief, but then said, "I'm getting the feeling that this testing is going to take a while."

"Okay," Jack said irritably, "is _no one_ else concerned about the fact that we're deciding this thing based on how good we are at describing our _feelings_?"

"At least we will not miss the _zatarc_ ," Martouf said. "The device is clearly flawed in a way that will predict more _zatarcs_ than actually exist, but we can continue testing those who fail in order to be certain that the results are correct."

"And we're not trying that procedure again," Janet added, "at least not without being absolutely sure."

"Uh," Daniel said, holding up a finger, "just as a suggestion...it might be easier to get full disclosure of...emotions and all of that if the person's team isn't standing around and watching." He didn't think he had much to say of his own experiences, but he did _not_ want to be staring up at his team if he had to admit to some cowardice or anything embarrassing.

...x...

So when it was Daniel's turn, he was alone in the lab with Anise and Freya, with only Janet watching from above as the rest of SG-1 spoke with Martouf and the general with the President.

"I wasn't on the PX9-757 mission," he said, trying not to pull against the straps holding him to the chair. He really hated being restrained--he'd joined the SGC as a victim and had played that role too many times afterward. "My only trips off-world in the last couple of months have been to Vorash, a research trip with SG-7, and the SGC Alpha Site for training."

"How long were you on the Alpha Site?" Freya asked.

"Uh...two weeks. Well, a week and about six days, I think," he added, just in case that made a difference. "And it was with SG-3 and SG-13."

"And you did not leave the planet during those weeks."

"No. We went directly from the SGC to the Alpha Site, and directly back at the end of the training session. And there were no Goa'uld forces there," he added. "The Alpha Site is pretty secure--in fact, there are probably security records from our time there."

Freya watched the monitor, then nodded. "Your trip with SG-7 before that was to Abydos?"

"Yes," Daniel said, glancing at Janet behind the window.

"Focus your attention here," Freya said again just as Janet gave him a reassuring smile, and Daniel snapped his eyes back to the device.

"Yes," he repeated. "We went to Abydos--a tunnel in one of the naquadah mines had collapsed. SG-7 and I helped to dig it free and reinforce the tunnels, and we eventually discovered a series of caves beyond it."

"What did you find in those caves?"

"Recorded histories, mostly, as well as the Stargate address for Tau'ri," Daniel said. "It seems to be the same as another set of caves where people learned to read in secret just before the fall of Ra; we believe it may have served a similar purpose and been abandoned, perhaps because it was discovered by Ra or his Jaffa centuries ago."

"Did you encounter any Goa'uld of Jaffa forces during the nine days you were on Abydos?"

"No," Daniel said honestly. "We found a few ancient Goa'uld devices, but nothing with any power left in them."

She still hadn't looked up from her data pad. Just as he was beginning to fidget, she said, "You are not a _zatarc_."

...x...

Daniel wasn't there when Sam was tested, but it took a long time for her to finish, and she came back to join them in the briefing room looking rather shaken. "I passed," she said when they turned to her, then said, "Colonel, can I talk to you before you go in?"

"Sure," Jack said easily. When Sam glanced to the side, he said, "Oh! Right," and stood to follow her just out of earshot and into the hall.

Deciding she was probably coaching him on how not to be called a _zatarc,_ Daniel turned back to Martouf. "So," he said, feeling considerably more awkward without Jack or Sam, since Teal'c had taken over coordinating the other teams' testing. "Are the Tok'ra being tested on Vorash?"

"Yes," Martouf said politely.

And then it was awkward and silent again, so Daniel went back to reading his notes to wait for Sam to come back.

When she did, he asked, "Anything wrong?"

"No, no," she said, though she wasn't meeting his eyes. "Just, uh...wanted to make sure he didn't get tripped up. Like Teal'c did--I almost failed at that same spot, and if it hadn't been for his test, I probably wouldn't have realized what my mistake was."

"Oh," Daniel said, "but then, either way, as long as your stories match Teal'c's, and we know Teal'c's not a _zatarc_ , then you're both fine, right?"

"The colonel was actually alone for a while, distracting the Jaffa for us to escape--probably only thirty seconds or so, and in combat the entire time," she said. "I don't think he could have...anyway, that's not the part I think he'd have trouble with. I'm sure it'll be fine. So, where are we here?"

"We were discussing the meaning of 'full disclosure of information,'" Martouf told her.

"Oh," Sam said. "I'll bet Colonel O'Neill had quite a bit to say about that."

"First of all, we want to revise it to 'information pertaining to the Goa'uld,'" Daniel said, "since that's what our alliance is really about. I think...no offense, but Jack's concerned that the Tok'ra won't hold up their end of the deal even if we do. And considering the way we were dismissed after the incident with Tanith and Shan'auc," he added, meeting Martouf's eyes, "I don't think those concerns are unreasonable."

"The difficulty in that situation stems from our need to ensure that Tanith himself is not alerted and that we do not give you false intelligence," Martouf explained, "but the Tok'ra keep their word--if we sign this treaty, we will obey the terms within. And I am certain the Tau'ri have formulated theories or conducted experiments of which the Tok'ra do not know."

"If that's true," Sam said, "it's mostly that those topics don't really come up in conversation, and until we've actually developed something fully, it didn't seem worth telling you."

"Maybe we do need to refine the clause, though," Daniel said, tapping the back of his pen against the paper. "We should define exactly what types of information have to be shared. Not ongoing experiments or unsupported theories, for example--"

"Or the day-to-day workings of our operatives," Martouf added.

"Unless our operations are directly affected," Sam countered. "And vice-versa."

"But we can't always know that, since the Tok'ra are often undercover among forces we engage," Daniel said.

Sam shared a look with him. They hadn't found out until almost a year afterward that their actions had led to the likely death of at least two Tok'ra operatives when they'd brought Thor's wrath upon Heru'ur's army on Cimmeria. They hadn't even _met_ the Tok'ra yet by then, but it wasn't like they were any better informed of such operations these days. "Is there a way we can keep each other in the loop about the placement of covert operatives?" Sam suggested.

Looking doubtful, Martouf said, "It would require communication that cannot be adequately secured. There is too much opportunity for betrayal, even if unintended. In addition, my people's protocols would be affected more than yours' by such a requirement."

"Well, we'd kind of like to avoid accidentally killing a Tok'ra spy whenever we go after a Goa'uld base," Sam said.

"There are those among us who believe such a direct strategy as yours does more harm than good," Martouf said. "Perhaps we can agree upon Goa'uld who would serve more use as information sources than as targets of assassination."

"There's no way everyone's going to reach an agreement about that," Daniel said immediately. "There are just too many ways to interpret it, and anyway, while I understand it's an important operational detail, I'm not sure it's necessary to define so thoroughly for this treaty."

Martouf gave him a nod. "You may be right. We should have...guidelines, however."

"That are not broadly open to interpretation," Sam added.

Easier said than done. "Okay," Daniel said. "Uh...how about..."

...x...

Jack took even longer to finish than Sam. From the redness of his face, Daniel suspected he'd had to say very explicitly exactly how furiously terrified he must have been, watching Teal'c and Sam refuse to leave him when the mountain on PX9-757 had been minutes from exploding.

"All right, let's pack it in," Jack ordered. "Everyone get some sleep, and we'll pick up in the morning. Daniel, is Rothman going to be in tomorrow?"

"He's already on base, on watch with the rest of SG-11," Daniel reminded Jack. "He'll be here at least until they're tested tomorrow."

"Well, we're gonna need the names of any translators or anthropologists who've gone off-world with a team lately. You get that list together first thing while SG-2's being tested...and then it's just this thing," Jack finished, waving a hand at the papers spread over the table. "How bad could it be?"

"Ugh," Daniel said, rubbing his eyes. "You had to say it."


	6. The Zatarc

**_2 October 2000; Briefing Room, SGC; 0600 hrs_ **

"So...we tested everyone?" Jack said when it looked to him like the danger was out of sight. In the aftermath of the latest round of _zatarc_ testing, SG-1 was gathered around the conference with Hammond, Dr. Fraiser, Martouf, and Anise, half of them double-checking that they hadn't missed anyone and the other half shuffling through pages from the still-incomplete treaty. Jack couldn't help glancing at the clock. They were running out of time before the summit.

"Yes, sir, it looks like it," Dr. Fraiser said. "Every SG team has passed the detector."

"And temporary attachés?"

"Mm-hm," Daniel said, too busy inhaling his coffee to answer in words.

"The Tok'ra have also completed their testing on the High Councilor and his advisors and personal guard," Freya added. "Since they are the only ones who will be coming to Earth for the summit, there should be no further danger to the President, and therefore to the finalization of this alliance."

"What about you?" Jack said, nodding in her direction. "Have you been tested on that thing?"

"I have not been in any situations where I would have been vulnerable to Goa'uld _zatarc_ technology," she told him.

Fraiser folded her hands on the table and leaned forward. "The question is whether you would know if you had been."

"Anise is not one of our regular operatives," Martouf explained. "Any of her excursions through the Stargate would have been noted by the Tok'ra."

"I thought you were all spies," Jack said, because they were all snakes, and infiltrating things was what they did best. It was practically--and kind of literally--in their nature, along with controlling everything.

"Some of the Tok'ra are researchers, sir," Carter explained, "and others are charged with coordinating Tok'ra operatives--not unlike how the SGC is structured. And there are those like Martouf--he's one of their top operatives but also has influence if not official say in political matters outside of the Council."

"Ah," Jack said. "So, Marty, _you've_ been tested on that...zarc...machine, right?"

Martouf's eyes widened. "No," he said, sounding surprised. "I have not."

The gentle white noise of rustling paper and shifting bodies stopped.

"You've been on two missions that we know of in the last two months," Carter said nervously.

"I have been on three," Martouf said, still in the same tone of voice.

Jack blinked. "How did _that_ slip through the cracks?"

"He's been here, working with us on the treaty while the Tok'ra tested their operatives," Daniel said, "and we didn't even think to include him on our list of personnel."

"Martouf," Hammond said, "you'll need to be tested ASAP. I need to make sure, and obviously, it's for your own wellbeing, too."

Martouf looked down at the table for a moment, then nodded. "Of course, General. I will submit to testing immediately."

"I'm sure..." Carter started in what seemed to be her idea of a reassuring tone. "Um...I mean, what are the chances, right? Just get it over with."

"We should proceed with the testing immediately," Teal'c suggested.

...x...

_"A minor Goa'uld,"_ Martouf said, strapped into his chair as he detailed his last mission from less than two weeks ago, the one he'd been on during the Shan'auc debacle. _"We believed she might have information relating to Cronus's location."_

_"Which Goa'uld was it?"_ Freya asked.

_"Lethe."_

Jack turned to Daniel, who said, "Uh...Greek water nymph of forgetfulness. Drinking from the river Lethe made the dead forget their lives. She was Daughter of Discord and sibling to Pain, Toil, Famine, Murder, Lies, uh...Combat, Lawlessness--"

"I get the point," Jack said. Some family tree. "Teal'c?"

"She is indeed a Goa'uld who has been seen with Cronus," Teal'c said as Martouf continued his testimony. "She is known to travel very often in his service, but she has never risen past the ranks of the minor Goa'uld and frequently sold her services to other System Lords."

_"...infiltrated her base and posed as another minor Goa'uld, working as an engineer of technology in her camp,"_ Martouf was saying. _"I discovered that she had been amassing an army to add to the forces of Cronus, who may be planning to increase his army now that Apophis has begun to shift the balance of power."_

Teal'c scowled and clenched a hand into a fist at the mention of Cronus. Jack took a casual step away from him. Daniel gave Jack a look that said _'_ coward,' to which Jack's eyebrows answered, 'drink your coffee.'

"Shh," Carter said absently to them. Hammond and Fraiser both gave her sideways glances, though she didn't notice since she was listening too intently to Martouf's story. Daniel drank his coffee.

_"...who gave Lethe the false warning,"_ Martouf was saying. _"While she left to determine the cause of the disruption, I was able to take control of the empty ship and escape, leaving the naquadah behind to detonate after I had gone."_

Freya stared at the monitor. _"The ship was empty when you attempted to escape?"_

_"Yes,"_ Martouf said confidently.

Several moments passed, and then--"Ah, crap," Jack said, looking up at the monitor and realizing what this meant, because there wasn't a lot of emotion to detail about an empty ship, which meant he had to be telling a false memory.

_"How did you feel?"_ Freya said, trying anyway.

_"How..."_ Martouf looked up at the observation window, as if only then realizing what was going on. _"No--this cannot be."_

_"Continue to focus your attention here,"_ Freya said, tapping the retinal scanner again. _"How did you feel when you boarded Lethe's ship to escape?"_

_"I...relieved,"_ Martouf said, wrinkling his brow. _"I was...relieved to be returning to Vorash. Regretful for the Jaffa civilians who almost certainly would perish in the explosion. Anxious that Lethe might have prepared a safeguard or that I would be pursued before Lethe was killed. Freya, you cannot be saying that--"_

_"Perhaps I should take the testimony of Lantash as well,"_ she interrupted. _"The detector may be reading the thoughts or emotions of one mind and comparing them to the other."_

Martouf looked back up at the window, looking actually scared for the first time Jack could remember. He closed his eyes, look a breath, and let Lantash emerge. _"Which part causes the difficulty?"_ the symbiote said.

_"Relate again the events that occurred from Lethe's departure to your boarding of her ship to escape,"_ Freya said.

"What would happen if you used a memory-altering device on a Tok'ra?" Daniel said, looking between Carter and Fraiser. "I mean...does it work on one or both of them?"

The two women exchanged a glance. "Well, it _must_ work on both," Carter said, "since there have been three _zatarcs_ found among the Tok'ra. Considering how they share thoughts between each other, programming a false memory into only one of them..." She paused, looking at Dr. Fraiser.

"It's possible that programming the host would be enough," Fraiser said uncertainly. "There are cortices in the human brain that don't have a counterpart in the symbiote brain. The symbiote can access those functions, but if part of the human mind were programmed--say, parts controlling memories and certain reflexes--that effect might bleed into the symbiote, too, without noticeable cognitive dissonance."

When their gazes jumped to Teal'c, the Jaffa said, "If this is indeed technology related to the _hara'kesh_ , then I have never seen it used on a Goa'uld."

"The _ashrak_ used it on me and Jolinar," Carter offered, "but not for memory-altering purposes. I don't know how that would work, but its other functions do affect both host and Goa'uld."

_"This device produces false positives, does it not?"_ Lantash was saying, starting to get agitated. Jack looked back up at the monitor, which still flashed ominously.

Freya looked back up at the observation window. Hammond pulled the microphone over and said, "I recommend that you continue to be tested until we're sure--if you are a _zatarc_ , Lantash, then we can think of measures to protect everyone, including yourself."

"Oh, god," Carter said, standing up and pacing toward the back of the room, where she stood with her arms crossed over her chest.

"It took a few tries for you and Colonel O'Neill, too, Sam," Fraiser reminded her. "Let's wait and see."

"Ah...hold on," Jack said, suddenly remembering Graham's attack on Vorash. "Someone search his stuff. See if you can find a..." He wiggled the fingers of his hand.

"Right, it just looked like a...a black band at first," Carter said, collecting herself. "Anise," she said into the microphone, "hold on for a second."

...x...

They'd been planning to test and retest for as long as it took. As it turned out, it wasn't necessary. A black ring that matched pretty darn well the thing Jack remembered from Graham was found inside one of Martouf's pockets. Jack wasn't sure how Martouf managed to look so surprised to see it there, but then, if some technology could create false memories, he wasn't going to put much past it.

Carter went to visit him where he was locked up. Jack made sure to remind her not to let him get within reach of a weapon, then sat at the briefing room table with everyone else. He had the sudden thought that Jacob was off on a long mission at the moment, too--all they needed was for _him_ to be a _zatarc_ and blow himself up, and Jack could officially say there was no one living among the Tok'ra whom he actually liked.

"After reviewing my notes," Freya said, "I fear that even keeping Martouf confined may endanger him. In at least one previous case, the _zatarc_ lost control when it became evident he could no longer achieve his objective--and then, he became self-destructive."

"Why hasn't that happened yet?" Hammond said.

"The triggering event has not occurred," she said. "But once it passes..."

"The summit," Teal'c guessed.

"What if we push it off?" Jack said, though he knew that was just delaying the hopefully-not-inevitable.

"That could have the same effect," Freya said, "if the programmed part of his mind believes he is no longer able to fulfill the goal."

Damned Goa'uld. "So what do we do?"

"There is an option," she started. "We could try--"

"That thing you tried on Astor?" Jack interrupted. "I don't think that's such a good idea."

"I believe that it failed to work because the procedure was not complete," Freya said. "She did not begin to exhibit irrational behavior until it was stopped too early. Clearly, it was a failsafe to protect the programming, but perhaps it can be overcome if it is given a fair chance to work."

"Perhaps some part of Martouf's mind knew about the failsafe," Teal'c said, "and it was for that reason that he ordered Lieutenant Astor's procedure to be stopped too early."

A chill ran down Jack's spine at the notion. He wouldn't wish a guilt trip like that on anyone, even a Tok'ra and especially Martouf. Besides... "Or maybe she went nuts and killed herself because the procedure's just screwed up," Jack argued. "And if so, Marty could still kill _him_ self." And a few other people, too, if Astor's actions were anything to judge by.

"Or even if it works, he could end up with brain damage," Daniel said. "Right?"

"It is a possibility," Freya conceded. "However, would it not be preferable to his death?"

"No, not necessarily," Daniel said. A few heads turned toward him, and he said, "I'm saying that some people would rather die than be...I mean, what kind of brain damage are we talking about?"

"We will not be certain until after the procedure."

Jack didn't think too much of his brain, but he was still pretty sure he'd pick death over the possibility of losing some important part of himself.

"No other options?" Hammond said. "We either try the procedure and hope it doesn't kill or overly damage him, or we wait and hope he doesn't kill himself during the summit?"

"We can sedate him while the President is here," Fraiser offered.

"It is still possible that he will eventually awaken, discover that he cannot fulfill his mission, and become self-destructive," Teal'c said.

"Well, if he's unconscious, he can't get access to a weapon to use on anyone. That's all I can think of--we could keep him under until we know more about this situation and...refine the cure."

"That may be impossible, Dr. Fraiser," Freya said. "If indeed Lethe was the Goa'uld responsible for the _zatarc_ technology--"

"Do you know that for certain?" Hammond asked.

"No, General, we cannot be certain, but the report that Martouf and Lantash gave of their mission said that there were no other Goa'uld in the area, and Lethe is known to be an expert engineer. It is very possible that she was the one who developed the _zatarc_ technology and was certainly one of those who employed it."

"And if she was the one who developed it and Martouf blew up her camp," Daniel finished, "and we have no one else who's tested positive, then there's no way to learn more about _zatarcs_."

"Then Martouf would be sedated indefinitely," Teal'c said.

"What would happen if we did that...brain damage thing?" Jack asked. "Wouldn't the symbiote heal it?"

"If Lantash remained unhurt himself," Freya said, "then yes, he would attempt to repair any damage, but there are limitations to the healing ability of even a healthy symbiote, not to mention the limitations of a symbiote that is itself injured. The brain is a complicated organ, Colonel, and for all we know, Lantash's healing ability would only be enough to allow Martouf to survive. It is unlikely that there will be no repercussions at all; however, they may be mild."

"Or they may be severe," Fraiser said.

Jack looked past the uneasy expressions around the table toward the general, who sighed. "I think we need his input here. The choice is his."

"I must inform the High Council," Freya said. Hammond nodded her toward the control room.

...x...

Martouf's first answer was a flat 'no.' His second, several hours later, was a 'maybe.' Jack thought asking a few more times might do the trick, but he wasn't really sure he wanted to hear Martouf agree to let Anise's--Freya's--brain-carving device go to work in his head.

So everyone was left to stew, and the next time Jack checked on Martouf that night, he found everyone already in the man's room. Apparently, they'd decided to argue about treaties in here.

"So what's the consensus?" Jack said as he stepped in and closed the door behind him. Teal'c looked up, but the other three seemed thoroughly absorbed in a pile of paper.

"On what?" Daniel asked absently. "The second disclosure clause?"

"No, we've settled that one," Carter told him. "It's the other one we need to figure out."

"I believe there is still some disagreement to be resolved in the second," Martouf countered.

"There's more than one clause about sharing information?" Jack asked Teal'c. "How hard can it be? 'We will share information with you if you share information with us.'"

"There are three," Teal'c told him.

"Three?" Jack repeated.

"Did you even read this, Jack?" Daniel said, rolling his eyes.

"It was originally one section, Colonel," Martouf said without looking up, "but we divided it into three so as to leave no ambiguity of the circumstances in which information, technology, or aid must necessarily be shared."

"Are there circumstances in which we _have_ to share aid unconditionally, in terms of participation and manpower?" Jack said, wary now, because he could imagine the SGC turning into a lab and the SG personnel into lab rats if that happened. Freya would be happy. Anise would be ecstatic.

Fortunately, Teal'c said, "There are not."

"Which is why that should be clearly stated, too," Daniel said, "or someone will claim that there _are_ situations like that, especially when we run into extenuating circumstances."

Jack opened his mouth to ask about something else. Teal'c gave him a look. Jack took the man's advice and shut up, then took a seat and let the rest of them finish bickering.

A few minutes later, he realized the bickering was really never going to end without someone's ending it _for_ them, so Jack said, "Actually, I was wondering whether you'd made a decision about something else, if you know what I mean, Marty."

Martouf fiddled a little more with something, and then Lantash looked up. "We have decided to undergo the procedure," Lantash said. Carter and Daniel were studiously looking at their copies of the treaty, but Jack could see that they'd both stilled. "However, we will wait until the summit is closer and therefore continue to be useful until then."

"It's possible that you'll come out of this exactly the same as you are now," Carter said fiercely.

"And it is possible that we will not," Lantash countered. "The risk that we pose others is too great; our only option is to complete the procedure or be killed now. Further, the Tok'ra can ill-afford to lose any of our number. If there is even a possibility that we will survive intact when the alternative is death at our own hand, we must choose the former."

Really, there wasn't anything good to say to that.

Martouf resurfaced and smoothed the page in front of him. "When is your President due to arrive?" he asked without looking up.

Their heads swiveled to Jack. "Uh...not sure," he said, moving toward the door with what he was a little ashamed to recognize as relief. "I should go check, actually, but it's still scheduled for Wednesday. And...lots of work to do, so...don't stay up too late, but knock yourselves out."

He'd escaped the room when he realized Carter was the only Earth human in the room, and while Teal'c and Daniel probably knew the idiom by now, just in case--"Not literally," Jack told them, sticking his head back in. "I mean, don't actually knock yourself out." Martouf looked at him with that familiar, polite _you're-so-weird_ look. "Unless you want to," Jack added, gesturing toward him. "'Cause Dr. Fraiser's got all sorts of stuff that can knock you out during the summit."

" _Goodnight_ , Jack," Daniel said.

"Right," Jack said, pointing vaguely toward them. "Goodnight, kids."

He found Freya and Dr. Fraiser inside General Hammond's office, where they seemed to be discussing yet again the benefits of sedation versus those of the _zatarc_ -removing procedure. "How about," Jack suggested, stepping in after a knock on the open door, "sedating him _while_ he undergoes the procedure?"

Anise's eyes glowed, and she demanded, "Are you suggesting that we trick Martouf into--"

"Oh, yeah, because trickery's _our_ thing," he retorted. Damn. He'd been hoping not to talk to Anise at all this time around.

Hammond got it, though, and said, "He's decided he wants to go through with it?"

"The sedation or the...?" Fraiser asked, pointing toward her own head.

"He wants to let you try the thing," Jack told Anise.

"Will it work if he's sedated at the time?" Fraiser asked her. "It might diminish some of the...problems we had with Lieutenant Astor and make it easier to carry it out fully."

"Unfortunately," Anise said, "the lack of healthy tissue that we have been able to study from previous _zatarcs_ means that we do not know exactly what parts of the brain may be affected by the _zatarc_ technology. The advantage of our method is that it reads the conscious and subconscious mind to identify the discrepancy and acts directly on the physical connections forming that false memory."

"Meaning," Fraiser said with a sigh, "that they have to be conscious at the time."

"Sheesh," Jack muttered. However advanced the technology, this was brain surgery without anesthetic. It sounded like a bad nightmare.

"I'd still like to give him some pain medication during the procedure," Fraiser said firmly. "It takes a lot to completely knock out someone with a symbiote, but it might make things go...more smoothly."

"That may be acceptable," Freya agreed. "The Tok'ra can provide an effective analgesic."

"All right, Colonel," Hammond said. "Is there anything else?"

"They're all arguing about wording issues in the treaty in Martouf's room now," Jack said. "Martouf wants to wait until that's done before trying the procedure. Oh, and they want to know when the President's due to show up."

"On Wednesday," the general said. "He's due to arrive at 1400."

Jack nodded. "Right."

A brief silence descended over them, before Freya broke it by saying, "Is any aid required in completing the treaty?"

"Um..." Jack said. Honestly, "I couldn't really say. But I think they've got it." She nodded. "All right. I'll go and let them know, sir. I guess we'll plan Martouf's...thing for just before the President's arrival."

XXXXX

**_4 October 2000; Embarkation Room, SGC; 1400 hrs_ **

The first thing Jack thought when the President walked into the embarkation room was that he was pretty sure he hadn't voted for that guy or even seen him before.

Hammond gave him a sharp look, though, so he kept quiet and tried not to alert Daniel, standing next to him, as the fake president got paraded around and introduced himself to everyone. To his relief, no Goa'uld weapons came out, and no one got hurt.

"I had to be absolutely sure," Hammond said as they watched the man leave without harm.

Jack had a sudden urge to suggest bringing the man to Martouf, just to make sure the guy really was a _zatarc_ , except that Martouf would probably end up killing himself.

"So that wasn't the real...?" Daniel whispered, confused.

"Nope," Jack told him. "Decoy."

"We apologize for that," Hammond told the Tok'ra High Councilor. "If you'll excuse me again, I'll bring our real president here."

"I see," Per'sus said, nodding once. "May that be the last time such a deception is required by either of us." Hammond nodded back and left again. As they waited, Per'sus turned to Jack and Daniel to say gravely, "The Tok'ra were greatly saddened to hear that Martouf was discovered to be a _zatarc_."

"As were we, High Councilor," Daniel said smoothly. "Martouf has been a good friend to the SGC, and we're all hoping he comes out...well."

"Are you aware of his current status?"

"Not yet," Jack said. "They're doing the procedure right now. That's why Major Carter, Teal'c, and Anise aren't here." He didn't mention that they'd seen a human _zatarc_ seriously injure a couple of SFs and thought they'd need a Jaffa just in case Martouf went nuts, or that there wasn't really any professional capacity in which Carter needed to be there.

Per'sus nodded. "I understand, Colonel."

As they waited, Jack tried not to fidget with his uniform. One advantage of standing next to a nervous seventeen-year-old, he'd thought, was that he'd look calm in comparison. But when Jack glanced over, Daniel was standing nervously _still_ instead as they watched several men in suits entering. He was ruining Jack's image.

"Thank you, George," a voice came from just outside the side doors. Jack felt his spine straighten automatically and stood at attention, anticipating the Commander-in-Chief's arrival. Daniel glanced at him and mirrored his stance.

Finally, Jack could see Hammond's hand gesturing inside, and a man whose face Jack had definitely seen before stepped into the room.

The general followed the President--the real one, this time--into the room. "Supreme High Councilor Per'sus of the Tok'ra," Hammond said, approaching them, "may I introduce President Allford of the United States of America."

"It's good to finally meet you, High Councilor," President Allford said, holding out a hand.

Per'sus barely hesitated before accepting the man's hand, clearly having been briefed on their customs. "I am pleased as well, Mr. President." To Allford's credit, he didn't react beyond a twitch of the eyebrows upon hearing the Tok'ra voice. "I only regret that our meeting has been the focus of Goa'uld treachery."

"Perhaps," Allford suggested, "we should take this as a confirmation that the enemy fears the formation of this alliance and what we can achieve together in this war."

"Well said," Per'sus said, inclining his head.

They finished the initial greetings, and then came the next round of introductions--"And," Hammond said, "Colonel Jack O'Neill, commander of SG-1, and Mr. Daniel Jackson, his team's cultural liaison."

"Mr. President," Jack said politely, trying to decide whether this would be a good time to ask the man a few questions.

When no other greeting came, he glanced to the side to see Daniel looking in the opposite direction, as if he could see all the way into the med lab from here. "Mr. Jackson?" Hammond prompted.

Daniel turned quickly. "Sir? Yes, sir, I'm sorry--it's an honor--it's a great honor to meet you, Mr. President," he said, bowing slightly.

"I've heard a lot about you," Allford said, which made Daniel look uneasy the way people's recognizing his name tended to do (for good reason, considering the kinds of things he'd gotten up to over the years). "All of you," the man clarified, including Jack and Per'sus in his gaze. "I was quite impressed by the revisions made recently to the treaty."

"An inspiring document," Per'sus agreed.

Jack seemed to be expected to answer that, and he had a feeling this would be a bad time to say he'd been one of the people with a _lot_ of misgivings about this whole treaty business at all. Luckily, Daniel knew him well enough to know he was at a loss for a good answer and jumped in with, "Much of the credit goes to the...the late and surviving members of SG-14 and to Martouf of the Tok'ra."

"Well," Allford said, "let's hope we can all live up to it."

"If you'd like," Hammond said, "we can move upstairs and finish up in there."

"That would be fine," Per'sus said.

As they started toward the door, Jack became aware that no one was at his side. He turned back and saw Anise enter the 'gate room from the other side to whisper something in Daniel's ear. Jack paused, knowing the significance of the Tok'ra's sudden appearance, but Daniel caught his eye and nodded toward the President and the High Councilor as they made their way to the briefing room. Jack sighed and followed Hammond.

Halfway up the stairs, Daniel squeezed past a few dignitaries and caught up to him to say, "They're done with Martouf."

"And?" Jack answered quietly from the back of the procession.

"And...we're not sure yet."

Jack resisted the urge to grab Daniel by the shoulders and shake out more information. It would come if he waited.

Sure enough, Daniel lowered his voice even more and said, "They... _think_ the procedure was completed. Martouf is alive. Sam's sitting with him, and Teal'c, too...just in case. But he, uh...he's been asking for Rosha. You know, Jolinar's former host--"

"I know who Rosha was," Jack said impatiently, and a little too loudly, because Per'sus turned, clearly recognizing the name as well.

By then, they'd reached the briefing room table, but before sitting, Per'sus said, "Martouf has survived the procedure?"

"Yes," Jack said. "Apparently, he's a little...disoriented."

"Dr. Fraiser says that could just be from the trauma and medications and it might pass," Daniel added hurriedly. "It looks like Martouf and Lantash will both survive, given sufficient recovery time, but that's all we know so far. Anise is trying to help using our Goa'uld healing device."

"I'm glad to hear that," Hammond said sincerely.

"Will it be possible to see him?" Per'sus asked.

"They want to let him rest for a while and then run some scans to determine more about what damage was done," Daniel said, looking to Jack. "Um..."

"I recommend we finish up here and then see what his condition is afterward, sir," Jack said.

"I'd like to see the man myself," President Allford said, nodding. "I understand this meeting was a large part of the reason he was targeted."

"Then, please, have a seat, and we'll get started," Hammond said, gesturing to both Allford and the Per'sus while the Tok'ra and Tau'ri advisors sat at the table. Secret Service agents and Tok'ra guards stationed themselves around the room, mingling with the SGC SFs who still stood at their usual posts. Jack sat, too, and resigned himself to some time spent sitting pretty and watching names get signed.

...x...

The President, in the end, was a busy man and couldn't linger for long, so he didn't get to do much in the way of meeting Martouf except to stop in and say a fancy 'thanks for your help.' Jack watched Teal'c stand with a zat gun aimed at Martouf's form--wondered if the President knew what a zat was when he saw one--and only relaxed when Martouf opened his eyes on the hospital bed but didn't seem to have any desire to attack anyone.

" _Kel,_ " Martouf whispered, blinking slowly. " _Mok tal?_ "

When no one said anything and Allford looked puzzled, Daniel said quietly, "He's asking about what's going on. Martouf, _neetra Tau'ri'i te ya daru._ "

" _Ta-Tau'ri_ ," Martouf echoed.

Looking worried now, Daniel glanced at Carter's tense expression as Anise said, " _Kel sha--Tau'ri nok._ "

There was a pause as Martouf's eyes didn't seem to be able to focus properly on the people around him. Fraiser checked something on his monitor and gave General Hammond a look, but before anyone could speak, Martouf murmured, " _Tau'ri cal mah?_ "

"He's asking if the Tau'ri are safe," Daniel said. Something relaxed a little in his shoulders.

" _Cal mah,_ Martouf," Per'sus said." _Tau'ri Tok'ra kal nai nok. Shashan_."

As Martouf's eyes fluttered closed, Fraiser said quietly, "He really needs to rest, gentlemen."

"Of course," the President said, and then they were shooed away. Jack looked back as they left the infirmary to see Teal'c retract his zat and Carter return to her seat by the bed, holding Martouf's hand.

...x...

Per'sus was a busy man--snake--too, so he told Anise to stay and report back with Martouf's condition once they had a better idea of what was going on. Dignitaries gone, Jack changed gratefully back into his BDUs while Daniel was too impatient even for that and settled for shrugging off his jacket, loosening his collar, and stashing his tie in a pocket.

Teal'c met them in the briefing room with Anise. "Is this...normal?" Daniel said anxiously, pointing to the closed door. "Martouf seems really confused."

"The man just had brain surgery, Daniel," Jack said.

What Jack had meant to say was that Martouf could be excused for being a little out of it at the moment, but Daniel only looked more alarmed. "Do you know yet what the damage is?"

"Dr. Fraiser has identified lesions that are visible with your technology," Anise said. "However, as you know, involuntary and unwitting mind control is not a simple matter. Even the memory portions are very complex, and memory does not share a simple relationship with the anatomical features of the brain. The...neural connections, as you call it, span many different sites, even for a single event, and their patterns of connectivity as well as--"

"Aht!" Jack said, waving an impatient hand. "Do you or do you not know what's wrong?"

"The SGC's instruments have detected some sites of damage," Teal'c simplified, "but Anise believes more sensitive devices are necessary to know the full extent of Martouf's injuries."

" _Thank_ you," Jack said.

"And Lantash?" Daniel asked.

"We have not yet spoken to Lantash," Anise said, "but we are certain Lantash survived the procedure; we can record the neural signals indicating more than one mind, and we are observing healing rates faster than expected for an unblended human. That we have not spoken to him yet implies that he is still attempting to repair what damage he can in himself and in Martouf."

"So where _is_ the damage?" Daniel said. "The things that Janet can see, I mean."

"The visible lesions appear to be primarily in the region your people call the hippocampus of Martouf, as well as in regions associated with motor response to sensory stimuli. We are not yet certain about Lantash, because your people do not have a standard symbiote nervous system against which to register Lantash's neuroanatomy."

Jack raised his eyebrows at Daniel, who looked a bit lost but said, "Um. Right. Okay. What I mean is...can you predict what that's going to do to him? What's going to happen to him now?"

Carter and the general joined them at the table. "I'd like to know that myself," Hammond said.

Anise looked around the table, then blinked and let Freya out. "We must conduct more tests to fully assess Martouf's condition. We cannot make further decisions or conjectures before then."

Jack frowned in suspicion. "And if he's in no condition to act as an operative for you?"

"Then, of course, he will not act as an operative," Freya said. "There are other roles he can fulfill among the Tok'ra. With Martouf's example and his circumstances, Anise and I--"

"Oh, here we go," Jack muttered, because sentences starting with _'Anise and I'_ never ended well.

"--hope to better understand the technology that was used to remove the _zatarc_ programming," Freya finished, "now that we can be sure that it functions as hypothesized."

"I hear the treaty was successfully signed with no further complications, sir?" Carter spoke up, looking so upright and professional that Jack knew she was pretty worried, and not about the treaty.

"That's right, Major," Hammond said. "We can finally put that concern aside."

Jack had the fleeting thought that three of their people and more than a few Tok'ra had died for that to happen, not to mention the ones who'd had their brains scrambled or sliced up, and that was a pretty big price to pay for something that he still wasn't convinced would really pay off. 

He turned now to Carter. "So...how's Martouf's..." _brain?_ "Ah..."

"Well, he recognized me," she said.

"As...?" Jack asked, since it wouldn't be the first time Martouf mixed up Carter with Jolinar.

"He called me Samantha," she clarified. "And clearly he was concerned about Earth. But he seems to have lost all memory of the last...couple of months, at least, and we're not expecting him to regain that time. Frankly, if that's all it is, it's a small price to pay."

"Anything else," Anise said, "will have to wait until he is more alert."

"Dr. Fraiser doesn't think we should move him just yet," Carter added. "Thanks to Anise and our healing device, not to mention his symbiote, there's minimal secondary injury from inflammation. His recovery time should be cut down a lot--"

"And there is some reduced trauma because we were not forced to perform an open surgical procedure," Anise added. "But it would be best for him to recover more before returning to Vorash--that is, General," she added, "if you will permit it."

"Of course," Hammond said immediately. "Martouf is welcome here."

And honestly, Jack kind of wanted to make Anise go away, but he didn't mind keeping Martouf around for a while. The guy had grown on him.

"If that's settled," the general said, "then we need to start resuming normal operations around here. Take tomorrow to get things cleaned up and go over whatever data you need. We'll hold the next planning briefing first thing on Friday."

XXXXX

**_6 October 2000; Briefing Room, SGC; 0900 hrs_ **

Jack hated these meetings--when they were just picking missions, there wasn't much for him to do. The science teams squabbled over who got to explore which research site, the combat units looked mean and tried to get the most exciting assignment, and the general exploration and first-contact teams got whichever planets were left over that looked too dangerous for the research teams and not violent enough for the combat teams. And when those were taken up, SG-1 got saddled with whatever none of _them_ wanted to touch. Jack was convinced Teal'c used these meetings to practice the technique of _kelno'reem_ with his eyes open.

These days, however, Daniel and Carter had decided to spice things up and had perfected the trick of ganging up so that they could snatch up the juiciest science trips before the science teams could get at them.

"P4X-639," Daniel said. "The planet your team was just on, Major Harper, where you met the archaeologist Malikai and found the Ancient device," he added to the leader of the newly reformed SG-15. "I've been going over the--"

"Whoa, wait, we wanted to take that one," Rothman interrupted, pointing to his team. Hawkins caught Jack's eye, looking like he didn't give much of a crap whether or not SG-11 took that planet. Jack shrugged. It didn't do much good to be the commander of a team when the geeks got into it.

"Ancient writing," Daniel tried.

"Alien archaeologist," Rothman countered.

"Whoops, the PhD trumps you with archaeology," Jack told Daniel.

"Actually," Carter jumped in, "there's something _I'd_ like to see there, too. The images SG-15 brought back show some interesting solar phenomena. We also know there's a slight radiation concern, so it's best to send as few people as possible and to work fast. So if SG-1 goes, Daniel can look over that Ancient device and talk to the archaeologist there while I set up the necessary equipment to take more detailed readings."

SG-5, a science team that specialized equally in physical and social science, began to look around at each other. Daniel, whose survival over the last few years had often depended on being tuned into people's reactions around him, noticed this immediately and added, "And if worse comes to worst, we know from experience that Teal'c is the best person to have around if we're going into potentially radioactive environments."

"Ah," Jack said, to Rothman this time. "The Jaffa trumps you there."

"Besides," Hawkins said, "weren't there those other places you wanted to check out, Doc?"

Rothman sighed but conceded, "Well, yeah. We've been following evidence that seems to bear some relation to the evolutionary history of the Goa'uld species. I have a list of places to try, but there's no reason we couldn't--"

"Learning about the Goa'uld should be a top priority for us," Hammond said. "Pick out the planets you think are the most viable choices for your study, Dr. Rothman. SG-1 will take P4X-639. Major Carter, put together a coherent plan for your observatory to be presented before the mission, and Mr. Jackson, work with SG-15 to find out what they learned about this Malikai."

They sat through the slog of the rest of the preliminary MALP telemetry and mission plans, and when the meeting was slowing to a halt, Jack looked over to see Dr. Fraiser was lingering. "I'd like to speak to SG-1, sir," she spoke up.

Hammond nodded. "You all have your assignments. Dismissed," he said to everyone else.

The four of them stayed where they were as the rest of the teams and research department representatives filed out. "Is it Martouf?" Carter said immediately when it was just them and the general.

"He's still improving," Fraiser assured her. "In fact, he's been talking a little, and Lantash did surface briefly, as well. The problem is, we're concerned that he might have continuing difficulty with memory and with other cognitive functions in the future."

"Is it going to be a problem?" Jack said.

"There are some incidents he doesn't recall at all," she said, "and he does seem to be experiencing trouble with attention and new memories. Again, remember that it's only been a couple of days, but...he's slowly becoming aware of the problem and is very concerned."

"Particularly," Teal'c guessed, "because he cannot afford to have such weaknesses as a Tok'ra operative."

"For one, yes," Fraiser said. "He's requesting to remain at the SGC, at least temporarily, until he's more certain about what memories he's lost or what other impediments he may suffer as a result of this procedure. He doesn't seem to be aware that we signed the treaty, but he thinks the knowledge he could provide to us here would be a sign of goodwill between our two peoples--like the counterpart to Jacob Carter and Selmak's role on Vorash, if you will."

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Couldn't you just...tell him we already finished that treaty stuff? He shouldn't feel obligated to stay here for that."

"I've told him, sir," Carter said, looking down. "A couple of times. He keeps forgetting."

"Oh," Daniel said.

_Oh_ , Jack thought.

"I have to stress that it's too early to know for certain what the long-term effects will be," Fraiser said again, "and I suspect having Lantash will help them to adjust in the long run. But it _will_ be an adjustment. I'd like him to remain here until he's more stable, anyway, and see where it goes from there."

"We'll need to inform the High Council, too," Hammond said. "With secrecy such a big issue for them, I want to make sure they're comfortable with this idea, but as far as I'm concerned, Martouf can stay here as long as he needs to."

"Anise is going to speak with the High Council as soon as she leaves, sir," she said.

"All right," Jack said, "then we'll just have to see what happens and spend some time with Martouf in the meantime."


	7. Anterograde Amnesia

**_10 October 2000; Infirmary, SGC; 0800 hrs_ **

Martouf walked around the corner just as Daniel did, making him wheel backward to avoid crashing into the man who'd just undergone brain surgery.

"Whoa...good morning," Daniel said, taking in the clothes Martouf was now wearing instead of scrubs--the healing device and presence of a symbiote had clearly done a lot for his recovery. "Hey, you're looking better. You, uh...should you be walking around by yourself?"

"I was told it is fine for a few minutes," Martouf told him with his polite almost-smile. "I was becoming tired of following a nurse each time I needed to stretch my legs."

"Well, good," Daniel said. "Uh...great. How's everything going?"

Usually, in response to questions like that, Martouf gave some vague, courteous answer that translated into _'I'm fine, stop asking me.'_ Today, he hesitated, looking around himself carefully while holding onto the wall, then looked away and said, "I seem to have...lost my way. Could you remind me where the infirmary is?"

Daniel forced his expression not to change as he gestured with a hand and said, "Sure. I'll walk with you."

Martouf had gotten lost inside the infirmary itself once, until he'd learned which signs marked which doors and walls. Daniel had seen him trying to memorize the objects around his bed, and once, he'd sat back down on the wrong bed when someone moved a cart out of its normal place. A Tok'ra spy used to long journeys in unfamiliar places should never get lost like that.

They started together back to the infirmary, slowly, because Martouf tended to lose his balance when he moved too fast. "Samantha says you have a mission scheduled for today," Martouf said as they walked. "I hope I am not inconveniencing you, Daniel."

"Oh, it's not for a few hours," Daniel assured him. "We have a briefing in, uh...an hour, but I've got plenty of time."

Neither of them mentioned that Martouf's remembering what Sam had told him was significant; the man sometimes forgot things only minutes after being told, at least without the help of Lantash.

Lantash remembered new things a lot better than Martouf, but Martouf had to learn to rely on his symbiote to remember _all_ new events while Lantash couldn't always hold onto them in the long term. Janet said that learning how to take in new memories was different from actually learning a fact, that it wasn't completely conscious, and that they would eventually be able to function relatively well together; it would just take time. Daniel didn't understand how it worked, but he had rarely been so grateful for the presence of a symbiote before.

"Wait, uh, this way," Daniel said hastily as Martouf started to walk past a turn.

There was a short pause as Martouf looked down both corridors and then, without a word, followed him down the right way.

A minute later, Martouf slowed. Daniel did, too, as the older man stared at the floor and stopped, still hugging the wall, his lips pressed tightly together. Daniel looked around, then said hesitantly, "Are... Martouf, are you...?"

Instead, his eyes flashed and Lantash raised his head. "Martouf is recovering as well as can be expected, Mr. Jackson," Lantash said. "We are simply unaccustomed to the amount of time required."

"According to the Tau'ri, you're healing very fast," Daniel said.

"So I have been told." Perhaps because Martouf was somewhat less steady these days, Lantash seemed to have temporarily taken over the role as the calm one, though Daniel thought he could sometimes hear the restrained impatience in his tone.

"Come on," Daniel said, gesturing down the hall. "We should get you back to the infirmary. You can call me 'Daniel,' by the way, Lantash."

"I will remember that," Lantash said, even though he'd already forgotten it once before.

Then Martouf returned, looking a little embarrassed, and said, "Forgive me."

"It's okay," Daniel said, trying not to show how much it bothered him to see Martouf as something other than the calm, reasonable presence he usually was. "It took me weeks to figure out how to get around base. Actually, if you look down, the colored lines can help to tell you where to go. You just need to learn which lines go where."

"I see," Martouf said once he'd glanced down and noted the lines.

"Also," Daniel said, reminding himself to slow down when Martouf had to stop for a minute and catch the wall, "Sam says you're better at research while confined to a bed than most people are on their feet, so we should be thanking _you_. For a lot of things, actually--"

"You know that I do not remember working on the treaty with your people?"

Daniel nodded. "I know. But trust me--a lot of the credit is definitely yours. You can read it yourself and then decide whether you think someone untrained like me or someone as...as diplomatic as Jack could have written it."

That brought a smile out of Martouf. "You are not untalented, Daniel, and the colonel has been very polite."

"That's because he likes you," Daniel admitted. "You haven't seen him talk to Anise." Well, Martouf _had_ seen Jack talk to Anise before, but not in his memory, so it didn't count.

"Freya seems quite fond of Colonel O'Neill."

Daniel raised his eyebrows. "You think so? Well, they--wait. Wait, wait, you mean...you don't mean _fond_ of him?"

"I do," Martouf said, quirking another smile.

"Oh," Daniel said, not particularly wanting to be able to picture that. "Well, no offense, but I don't think he'd take that too well."

"Before she returns to Vorash," Martouf joked, "perhaps I should remind her that not all humans are as open in their affection as the humans of Freya's planet."

After a moment, Daniel managed a weak laugh. "Yeah. Uh...we should do that. She actually...left last night, though, so we'll have to wait until next time to talk to her."

Martouf fell silent for a while, his eyes unfocused in the way that Daniel had learned meant he was talking to Lantash. "I had not..." he started, and then, "We must have forgotten that."

Before Daniel had to think of a way to respond, Sam's voice called, "Martouf! There you are."

Martouf looked so pleased to see her that Daniel felt like an intruder. "Samantha. Daniel and I were discussing forms of expressing affection among humans of different worlds," Martouf said.

Sam looked sharply at Daniel. "He was talking about Jack," Daniel explained, and then, "No, no, I mean, Jack and Freya." Sam's eyes widened. "Not that there's anything between Jack and Freya," Daniel said awkwardly.

"Uh...huh," Sam said, sounding confused. Martouf looked honestly amused, the way he so rarely did. Daniel decided to believe it was a side effect of being off-duty for a while and able to spend time chatting with Sam rather than a side effect of having part of his brain gone.

"Do you guys need anything? If not, I'll, uh..." Daniel said, pointing his thumb the other way. "I'll be in the commissary until the briefing."

...x...

Daniel found Jack sitting alone at a table. He dropped his notebook in the seat across and went to seek out food and coffee. Jack at this hour of the morning was either ridiculously full of energy or very focused on eating, after which he had a lot of energy. He seemed to be the latter today, and Daniel knew from experience that, at times like these, it was best to let the man eat.

Sam joined them eventually, took a look at Jack, and seemed to decide the same, sitting next to Daniel. Daniel waited until he decided he'd been quiet long enough and said, "Where's Teal'c?"

It took a few moments for Jack to stop spooning Froot Loops into his mouth and answer, "Doing something for someone in some lab."

"Great," Daniel said. "Thanks for all the detail."

"You're welcome," Jack said around a mouthful.

"So. Mission today," he prompted.

"Yup," Sam said. "Daniel, thanks for finding Martouf. The nurses were getting worried."

That caught Jack's attention enough to make him look up for a moment. "Where was he?"

"Just in the hallway," Daniel said. "He got turned around, that's all. He's okay."

Jack nodded. "Glad to hear it. That, ah...seems to be happening to him a lot."

"He's still having some memory problems," Sam said. "Lantash wasn't...damaged as much, and he compensates for certain things--there are events that one of them remembers when the other doesn't--but not everything. Symbiotes have a huge capacity for factual memory, but spatial memory, hand-eye coordination...they have to learn to cooperate for tasks like those, but it's still Martouf's body and two brains trying to work together and control it. Certain reflexes and thought-forming processes have to be relearned."

"Spatial memory," Daniel repeated, even as he thought that hand-eye coordination was something a Tok'ra operative should be very good at, and that Martouf would never be able to go on missions again at this rate. "Janet mentioned that, too. What does that mean?"

"Well," she said, pausing in the familiar way that meant she was trying to think of a simplified way to explain something to him, "you learned how to find your way around the base, right? Or if you went to Nagada, you'd know how to get from, say, Ra's pyramid to the village gates."

"So it's what lets you find your way," Daniel said.

"It's like a sort of map in your head," she said. "Basically, certain types of maps in Martouf's head don't work properly anymore. So he needs to make up for that by...um. Let's say you can picture a layout in your mind, and you recognize where to go by 'seeing' that space in your mind's eye. He's learning to use a list of instructions from Lantash instead: go past the door labeled '17B,' then turn left two corridors later... _et cetera_."

Daniel imagined trying to navigate that way and grimaced. "That's a lot to remember."

She nodded. "But he's learning. It takes time to get used to. Martouf and Lantash are working on improving their, uh, tandem motor control so he'll be better at writing things down to help remember. The anterograde amnesia he was showing before is less severe now, though. Lantash is still good at processing new events."

"You know what's strange about anterograde amnesia?" Daniel said, cutting into his cooling pancake and talking around a bite. "Not Martouf's exact case, but a really severe one. Can you imagine not remembering that you'd already done something or...or said something... It would be basically like waking up every day and, you know, living the same day over and over."

She tilted her head. "Well, it wouldn't be _exactly_ the same day, not if different things were happening around you. You'd have to have a completely controlled environment to have the same day happen, whether or not you remembered it."

"But that's just it," Daniel said, pointing a piece of pancake at her. "If you don't remember having lived it, does it matter to you if it's the same or different? Does it matter if you live the same day over and over, or do similar things, if you don't realize it's already happened? This is an extreme case, obviously, in which you don't remember...not remembering."

Sam took a quick sip of coffee. "So this is hypothetical."

"Yeah. Like...if I had severe amnesia, I could have had this conversation with you five minutes ago, and I just forgot. And I'd never know unless someone told me, and then five minutes later, I wouldn't know again. I mean, your life is based on your perception of the world around you, right? Would it matter what I did each day if I didn't know I'd done it?"

She tilted her head back to think. "First of all, you should've written yourself a note to tell yourself you'd had this conversation already. And either way, it'd matter to _someone_ \--whoever was around you that didn't have amnesia. You don't agree?"

"I think...I think we could all have anterograde amnesia right now and just not realize it."

She shook her head. "I think it's a little too theoretical for practical purposes."

"Maybe you _think_ that because you don't remember learning that it's happening," he said, earning an eye roll and a laugh, then turned to Jack. "Anyway, that's just how I feel about it. What do you think?"

Jack stuck his spoon into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed. He paused, and Daniel waited for his answer. Then Jack scooped another spoonful of cereal and went on eating.

"I don't think he was listening," Daniel told Sam, disappointed. She grinned. Daniel resisted the childish urge to poke Jack with his fork to see what would happen.

Ironically, their silence seemed to catch Jack's attention better than their chatter had, and he looked up, eyeing both of them suspiciously. "What?" Jack said.

Sam smothered another smile and checked her watch. "We're going to be late to the briefing."

Daniel put down his fork and stood.

"What?" Jack repeated, following them out.

...x...

**_10 October 2000; P4X-639; 1800 hrs_ **

As it turned out, the man named Malikai had picked up some English from SG-15's trip, when the radiation hadn't been as strong and the other team had stayed considerably longer. Malikai's native dialect was a proto-Canaanite language related to many other central Semitic languages Daniel knew, and with that as an aid, communication was relatively easy.

The writing on the walls was definitely Ancient, and after just a few hours, it was clear that they represented some sort of planetary history.

"I agree," Malikai said when Daniel said as much.

"What I don't understand," Daniel said, looking at the altar before which the man stood, "is what _this_ is. It's, uh, obviously in good condition, compared to everything else in here." The surface looked like it was _made_ of buttons. He really, really wanted to push one of them and see what happened. He was pretty sure Jack would yell at him if he did.

"The storm is approaching, Daniel Jackson," the archaeologist said. "The radiation may be dangerous for you and your team."

"Major Carter will let us know when we have to leave," Daniel assured him. "What's this line here? It seems to repeat several times. Um... _domavetus_ _vestul motabilum._ "

Malikai looked like he was getting nervous about the radiation, but Daniel knew, after their close brushes in the past, that Sam would keep an eye on it and that Jack would make her check every few minutes even if she forgot. "Conqueror of time," Malikai suggested.

Daniel tilted his head, thinking as he looked over the rest of the altar. "Is it? Actually, I think it's, uh... _motabilum_ would refer to uncertainty or lack of stability, and obviously, _vestul_ referring to things past...so something more like 'master of the uncertain past.' So in a way, yes, but in this context..."

There was a beeping sound. Daniel looked up and found Malikai holding something in his hands.

"What's that?" Daniel asked, wondering where the device had come from.

"The geomagnetic disturbance is reaching its peak," Malikai said. "I have to act now."

Confused, Daniel watched as the archaeologist pulled something else from his bag that looked a lot like a gun. And then Malikai pointed it at him and it looked a lot more like a gun. Frozen in place and staring at the weapon, Daniel could only say, "What?"

Then something jolted through him like all-too-familiar agony of electricity burning through his body. Daniel's last thought was that he wouldn't have said anything about the translation if he'd known the man would be so angry about it.

* * *

**_10 October 2000; Commissary, SGC; 0855 hrs_ **

"Anyway," Daniel said to Jack, "that's just how I feel about it. What do you think?"

Jack stopped with his spoon halfway to his mouth. "What?" he said.

Beginning to suspect that Jack hadn't been listening, Daniel exchanged a knowing glance with Sam. "What do you think?" he repeated.

Jack looked at his spoon. Looked around the room. Looked back at them. "Daniel?"

Huh. This was different. Jack didn't usually get quite _so_ involved in his food that he was startled by his surroundings. "Jack?" Daniel said.

Jack looked at his spoon again.

"Colonel?" Sam prompted. "Is something wrong?"

"Maybe," Jack said, looking confused. Daniel frowned--he knew he sometimes used run-on sentences and convoluted structure when he spoke without thinking things out first, but he was pretty sure he hadn't said anything to make Jack look like that. "Weren't we just somewhere else?"

Sam wrinkled her brow and glanced at Daniel. "Where?" Daniel said.

"Some planet," Jack said.

"Earth?" Daniel said.

"No."

"So, a...?" Daniel gestured off into the distance.

Jack nodded. "Yeah. Just now."

"No," Daniel said.

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

For some reason, Jack didn't seem to find this comforting. Instead, he put down his spoon of Froot Loops and said, "Everything just changed."

Now Sam frowned, too. "Sir, we've been sitting in the commissary for the last half hour."

"Really?" Jack said, looking genuinely surprised.

Daniel barely resisted rolling his eyes. "Well, _I_ often look around myself and think this planet seems pretty alien," he offered, "but I have an excuse..."

Sam almost-smiled again, then stood. "We're going to be late for the briefing."

"Briefing?" Jack echoed, not moving.

Daniel looked down at Jack's cereal, then back up at Sam. "Are you okay?" he asked, a little suspicious, because this wasn't really like Jack, but Jack _did_ play dumb sometimes. "Or are you just trying to avoid answering the question?"

"I'm fine," Jack said, then stood and started to leave. "What question?"

...x...

Daniel would have been content to think of it as simply an odd Jack thing, that he was remembering some previous mission and was simply confusing it--somehow--with the planet where they weren't supposed to go for another six hours.

And then, Teal'c said, "I am in agreement," and Jack said, "solar activity" and "corona," and the general scowled at them all.

Sam looked just as confused as Daniel felt. Since Sam didn't usually look confused without a good reason, he decided he was still sane.

But then Jack said SG-12 would come back early and unscheduled, and Teal'c said that one of them was injured. Which seemed ridiculous, of course, until SG-12 came back unscheduled with Captain Haller injured.

"It's like Cassandra," Daniel said.

Which, of course, made more than one person say, "How is this like Cassie?"

And then he had to follow them to the infirmary while explaining that he hadn't meant Cassandra _Fraiser_ , but rather the prophetess who could predict the future and whom no one had believed until the Trojan Horse came and killed everyone. "So I guess we might want to listen," he suggested, only partly joking.

"Did you just call me and Teal'c a little girl?" Jack answered. Daniel sighed.

"Colonel O'Neill, Teal'c, get yourselves examined," the general ordered once they'd reached the infirmary, where Martouf was walking around slowly but paused to watch the commotion. "Mr. Jackson, stay with them; Major Carter, I have some questions for you."

With a scowl, Jack allowed himself to be shooed toward one the nurses while Teal'c perched on the side of a gurney. Janet raised an eyebrow and walked a short distance away to ask Daniel why they were there.

"Well," Daniel said, "they're remembering things that haven't happened yet."

"Okay, then," she said, and then, "Really?" Daniel shrugged. "Well, that's a new one," she muttered, and reached into her pocket for a penlight. Martouf, sitting on the next bed over, watched them curiously.

Once it looked like Jack and Teal'c had both gotten their blood drawn and had both settled into being examined, Daniel asked, "Okay. So. What happened...on the planet?"

"Well, Carter was setting up her instruments," Jack said. "I was looking at the sun. Teal'c was patrolling. And you were...at the altar deal with the guy."

"I was..." Daniel said, blinking. "What?"

"Malikai," Teal'c filled in, removing the thermometer from his mouth to talk.

"Oh!" Daniel realized as the nurse put the thermometer back in. "The archaeologist, right."

"You got along swell," Jack told him. "And then...I didn't actually see this part, but I think he killed you." Daniel looked down at himself. Janet glanced at him, as if to check that he wasn't actually dead. "Or possibly just knocked you out," Jack added. "Not really sure."

"Oh," Daniel said, thinking there was something wrong with him if Jack thought he got along well with people who tried to kill him.

"And then a beam shot out from the altar and the ruins around it and hit the Stargate."

Teal'c took the thermometer out again. "There was a blinding flash of light."

"Then I was back in the commissary, eating my Froot Loops," Jack finished.

"Is this a normal mission for SG-1?" Martouf asked.

"We haven't _had_ a mission yet," Daniel said.

"Yes, we have," Jack insisted.

"No, we haven't," Daniel said.

"Have."

"Haven't."

"Hav-- _mph_ ," Jack said as Janet stuck a thermometer into his mouth.

...x...

"Daniel!" Nyan called as he made his way toward his office. "Do you not have a mission today?"

"It's been...rescheduled, I guess," Daniel answered. "Complications of...uh..." He trailed off, looking for where he'd put the folder of images SG-15 had brought back from P4X-639 last time.

"Then you are still busy?" Nyan asked, looking like he hoped Daniel would say 'no.' Nyan's deal here was that his time was his own, usually, to study and take courses as well as he could from underground, but he picked up the slack in archaeological analysis when things started building up too fast for others to handle. Even though Daniel didn't have Nyan or Robert's formal archaeological training, he could usually assist in some way or other.

"Sorry, yeah, I am," Daniel said, giving up on his own desk and moving over to search Robert's. "Jack and Teal'c say we've already gone to the planet, where Sam left a lot of equipment and I died, so... _Yi shay_ , where is it?"

"Oh," Nyan said uncertainly.

"Yes!" Daniel said in triumph when he finally found the folder. "Sorry, Nyan, we really need to figure this out. I'll, uh...talk to you later," he said as Nyan ambled out toward his own office. Daniel followed him out and then moved toward the elevator to find someone on his team.

He was lucky on his first try and met Jack in the hallway outside the commissary. "Jack!" he called, rushing past a few people. "Wait--"

Someone walked past in front of him, forcing him to stop to let the airman pass. Fortunately, Jack had stopped as well and was waiting with...well, no less patience than usual.

"Okay," Daniel said once the path was free, opening the folder to pass one of the images to Jack. "You said that a beam came out of the altar and the ruins, right? Right, well, SG-15 took these images, and I thought there might be some clue in here about how it works or...or what was going on." Jack was looking at one frame of the text upside-down and didn't answer. "Anyway, this is the equivalent of hundreds of pages of alien text, which would take a while to get through, so I was hoping you could tell me more about--"

A blur crashed into Daniel, and he landed hard on the floor, vaguely aware of hundreds of pages of alien text scattering around him.

"Gee, sorry, Daniel," Sergeant Siler's familiar voice said.

"Uh," Daniel coughed out as hands grabbed his limbs and hauled him to his feet, where he saw Jack still standing as if frozen in place, holding the upside-down picture and looking like he wasn't sure whether to laugh or yell at Siler.

"Should've seen that coming," Jack said.

"Some Cassandra you are," Daniel said, looking with dismay at the scrambled images.

...x...

In the end, Daniel spent his time grumpily putting the data back in order. As with most images brought back for analysis, they were all carefully labeled; unfortunately, sheet number two-hundred and thirty-seven was either missing or stuck to the back of something else.

"Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said, walking in.

"Hi," Daniel said without looking up. "I think the writing's some kind of planetary history, and of course I _would_ be missing the frame that comes right after, _'...and the people fled because...'_ so I'm not having a lot of success."

"Perhaps we would do better to resume our duties," Teal'c said.

"Yeah, maybe all that stuff this morning was just a bunch of coincidences," Daniel said absently, because as fascinating as this history was, he was pretty sure he'd get more work done if he could go and _see_ the ruins and talk to this Malikai person...

"Indeed," Teal'c said.

"On the other hand," Daniel said, looking up and reviewing his words, "there's...actually no way that was coincidence."

Teal'c folded his hands behind his back and raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps I will ask for the opinion of General Hammond," he said.

"Okay," Daniel said, going back to work.

And then Sam walked in to ask, "Any luck?"

"The Ancients used to live there," Daniel told her.

"R...right," she said. "Because their writing is all over the ruins." Daniel glanced up, then back down. "So no luck?"

"Nope," he said.

_"Unscheduled off-world activation!"_

They stopped and looked up at the speaker for a moment before rushing out together. "Whoa," Sam said as they stepped out and found themselves in a darkened corridor. A moment later, the lights flashed back on. "Something's happening--we should get down to the--"

* * *

**_10 October 2000; Commissary, SGC; 0855 hrs_ **

"Anyway," Daniel said to Jack, "that's just how I feel about it. What do you think?"

To his surprise, Jack put down his spoon immediately and sat up straight, his eyes wide.

As Daniel stared at him, Sam said, "Colonel, something wrong?"

"Oh, yeah," Jack said, looking around the commissary. "Something."

Which explained absolutely nothing, but then they had a briefing, so Jack went loping off in the direction of the briefing room and Daniel had no choice but to follow. Sometimes, Jack didn't make any sense, even to him.

...x...

Apparently, Jack made even less sense than he'd thought.

"We've done this!" Jack announced in the middle of Sam's presentation.

Already a little annoyed by not understanding what was going on with Jack today, Daniel pointed out, "We do this every day."

"I'm not talking about briefings in general, Daniel," Jack snapped. "I'm talking about _this_ briefing--I'm talking about this day _!_ "

_No sense_ at all.

But then Teal'c said, "Colonel O'Neill is correct. Events do appear to be repeating themselves."

"Since when?" Daniel said.

"Since we went to P4X-639," Jack said.

"We haven't been to P4X-639," Sam said, looking about as confused as Daniel was.

"Yes, we have," Jack said. Daniel opened his mouth, but Jack turned to him and said, "No, we haven't. That's what you were going to say."

"Of course that's what I was going to say," Daniel said, bewildered.

Jack paused. "Okay," he said, "bad example."

"Hey," Daniel said, frowning now, "are you... Is this some kind of joke about what we were talking about at breakfast? About the...you know, the..."

Jack gave him a blank look. "Were we talking about something at breakfast?"

Daniel sighed.

...x...

Daniel met Jack in the hallway outside the commissary. "Jack!" he called, rushing past a few people. "Wait--"

Someone walked past in front of him, forcing him to stop to let the airman pass. Fortunately, Jack had stopped as well and was waiting with a bored expression on his face.

"Okay," he said once the path was free. "So you said that a beam came out of the...well, from the altar and the ruins, right? Right, well, SG-15 took these--"

"Hundreds of pages of alien text," Jack said. Daniel stopped. Right. They'd probably been through this before. Which was fascinating, because, like he'd said earlier, the--"Daniel?" Jack said, looking impatient.

Daniel shook himself and handed some of the images over. "Right. Well, I thought translating it might help."

Jack was looking at one frame of the text upside-down. "Looks familiar," he said.

"Well, you spoke and read and wrote it for a while," Daniel said. "It's Ancient."

With a blank look, Jack said, "Well, if you're looking for help translating it, you're barking up the wrong genius."

"No, I know you're back to normal," Daniel said, and with the distance of time, he could feel the pang of disappointment that all that knowledge had been lost. "Which is...a good thing. I supp--"

Jack's hands grabbed him and yanked him away just as Sergeant Siler ran through where he'd been standing a moment before.

"Wow," Daniel said, honestly impressed as he stared at Jack. "That's really amaz--"

A moving blur crashed into Daniel, and he landed hard on the floor, vaguely aware of hundreds of pages of alien text scattering around him.

"Shit--sorry, Daniel," Major Ferretti's familiar voice said. "You okay? Here, let me help..."

"Uh," Daniel coughed out as hands grabbed his limbs and hauled him to his feet, where he saw Jack holding the upside-down picture and staring at him with wide eyes.

"That's pretty funny," Jack said, amused.

"Colonel!" Ferretti rebuked.

Jack shrugged. "Better than last time."

...x...

The only good thing about Jack and Teal'c's going crazy was that they had a good excuse to go to the planet. Daniel wasn't sure why this was a good excuse, since the usual solution to things like this was medical watch, but the general said to go, so he got a chance to look at lots of Ancient text and talk to an alien archaeologist.

Better yet, there was an alien archaeologist speaking in English about an Ancient device covered with writing about the planet's history. There was nothing that could make that anything other than incredible.

"Hello!" Daniel said, starting forward when he spotted the man at the altar. "My name is--"

The familiar sound of his friends' guns rising into place stopped him.

Malikai held his hands away from his body. "Hello," he answered nervously.

_"Kree lo'sek_ ," Teal'c said to Daniel. Confused, Daniel obeyed, moving out of his friends' line of fire and drawing his gun, though he left it pointing low at the ground. This was an archaeologist--they didn't really have to start shooting the civilians off-world, too, did they?

"That's the guy," Jack snapped. "That's the one who started all this!"

"I do not understand," Malikai said, looking like he wanted to get far away from all of them. Daniel didn't blame him.

"Colonel," Sam said, though she didn't lower her guard, "I don't think he knows what you're talking about."

"Perhaps he has no memory, O'Neill," Teal'c said.

"Oh, he remembers," Jack said darkly. "He was the one pushing all of those buttons."

Daniel glanced past Malikai toward the altar. The surface looked like it was _made_ of buttons. He kind of wanted to push one of them and see what happened. He was pretty sure Jack would yell at him if he did that, though.

"Please," Malikai begged, "I am a...an archaeologist. I have been trying to translate these alien symbols. I have been making periodic visits to the planet for some time now--my research is almost complete!"

Jack walked forward. Daniel glanced at Sam, who looked just as confused as he was. It was perhaps the most surreal day Daniel had experienced in a long time--what Jack and Teal'c were saying didn't make any sense, and yet, at the same time, they'd predicted things no one could otherwise have predicted. It was like Cassandra the prophetess, and no one had listened to _her_ either, and maybe if they didn't listen now, they would end just as messily as Troy had.

Or they could be crazy. Sometimes that happened, too.

"What kind of archaeologist carries a gun?" Jack barked, retrieving a weapon from Malikai's bag.

"Robert does," Daniel pointed out. "And Cameron. And Nyan did, once." But he was starting to think Jack and Teal'c might be right after all, so he took the safety off his own weapon and raised it.

Then the altar started moving.

"What did you do?" Jack demanded, looking around at everyone.

Sam, who'd been standing closest, insisted, "I didn't do anything!"

Jack's gaze left Malikai long enough to fix both Sam and Daniel with a glare. "Well, turn it off!"

"How?" Sam said. Daniel narrowed his eyes and noticed a phrase that kept repeating throughout the altar. _Domavetus vestul..._ what was that next word?

"There's nothing Major Carter can do," Malikai said, backing away.

_Motabilum_ , Daniel decided. 'Master of the uncertain past,' perhaps, though if he could get closer to see...

Actually, that did fit with the idea of time loops, he supposed. Just as he'd been about to take a step forward to examine the altar more closely, Jack said, "Excuse me? How'd you know her name?"

Uh-oh. Daniel turned around to see Sam's eyes widen in understanding, because this was one coincidence that couldn't be faked.

"Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said, gesturing toward the altar as Jack yelled at Malikai some more.

"Wh--but," Daniel said helplessly, reaching out a finger to touch the altar but afraid to do something wrong and make everything worse. "I wouldn't even know where to begin! I can start to translate it, maybe, but I don't even have enough--"

* * *

**_10 October 2000; Commissary, SGC; 0855 hrs_ **

"Anyway," Daniel said to Jack, "that's just how I feel about it. What do you think?"

Jack dropped his spoon and dropped his head onto his arms on the table.

A little disappointed, Daniel muttered, "It was just a question."

...x...

"Sorry, Nyan," Daniel said. "We really need to figure this out. I'll, uh...talk to you later," he said as Nyan ambled out toward his own office. Daniel followed him out and moved toward the elevator to find someone on his team.

Before he could go far, though, he literally walked into Jack, who grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him back into the office, Teal'c right behind. "You're better off in here," Jack assured him, steering him back to his desk.

"I was just coming to find you," Daniel said.

"I know," Jack said pointedly.

Daniel considered that. "Right," he said. "Well, during the pre-mission analysis, I was able to translate part of the wall, which seems to be some sort of planetary history--"

"Daniel," Jack interrupted, taking his images and sifting through until he'd found what he was looking for, "that's very nice, but focus on the altar."

"Malikai initiated the time loop by manipulating the symbols on the surface," Teal'c added.

"Yeah, it _is_ sort of like a surface made up entirely of buttons, isn't it," Daniel agreed, peering more closely at the image. He wondered what Jack would do to him if they went to the planet and he pressed one of them at random.

Fingers appeared before his nose and snapped sharply. "Hey! Focus!" Jack said.

"Okay, okay," Daniel said, sitting down at his desk. "You realize we don't actually know...I mean, what are the chances that there are instructions written on it? I could tell you what it says--given a lot of time to work on this--but it might just be an Ancient fairy tale."

"It might _what_?" Jack said.

"Well, the chances of _that_ are pretty low, too," Daniel allowed, "but..."

Teal'c glowered at him. Daniel thought he might be more afraid if he didn't know that they needed him to translate the Ancient. Jack slapped a hand on it. "Start working," he said.

"How long does it take to loop?" Daniel said. There was an interesting sense of uncaring detachment around everything today--if he was just going to forget this tomorrow, did it really matter what he did now?

"Less than ten hours," Teal'c said.

"Okay," Daniel said, counting back in time and carefully placing the writing on the table, "Well, I can't translate all of this in a few hours."

Jack looked around, then picked up Daniel's tape recorder. "Here. You can start now and keep going tomorrow where you left off."

"I do not believe this plan will be successful," Teal'c said. Daniel agreed--if things like tape recorders held onto their records after a time loop, computer records should, too, and then there wouldn't be all of this confusion. Either way, before Jack could say anything else, the phone rang.

_"Mr. Jackson, are Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c with you?"_ the general said.

"Yes, sir," Daniel answered, narrowing his eyes at the printed images as he noticed a phrase that kept repeating throughout the altar. _Domavetus vestul..._

_"We need all of you in the briefing room. Major Carter has a theory."_

"Yes, sir," he repeated. Sam's theories were always a good thing.

...x...

Except, of course, when those theories didn't work. They all stood together at the control room window and watched the Stargate prepare to dial out to make sure that the Ancient device on P4X-639 didn't dial them and make them loop, but--

"Chevron seven will not engage," the technician said.

"Uh-oh," Daniel said, looking over his shoulder and Jack and Teal'c, who wore identical looks of resignation. And then--

"Incoming wormhole."

"Ah, crap," Jack sighed as Sam dropped into a seat to figure out what was going on.

"This doesn't make any sense," she said. "There's nothing wrong on our end. We should--"

**_10 October 2000; Commissary, SGC; 0855 hrs_ **

"Anyway," Daniel said to Jack, "that's just how I feel about it. What do you think?"

Jack stopped with his spoon partway to his mouth, then slowly lowered it and slumped back in his chair. "Ask me tomorrow," he said unhappily, which was odd, because Jack in the morning after eating large amounts of sugary cereal was usually more lively than that.

...x...

"Yeah, it _is_ sort of like a surface made up entirely of buttons, isn't it," Daniel agreed, peering more closely at the image of the altar on P4X-639. He wondered what Jack would do to him if they went to the planet and he pressed one of them at random.

Hands grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him upright. "I'm telling you," Jack said, looking a little maniacal as he pointed at the images, "that the only way to stop this loop is to figure out how to run that stuff!"

"Okay, okay," Daniel said, sitting down at his desk. "You realize we don't actually know--"

"It could be a fairy tale, I _know_!" Jack yelled. "But it's not!"

Daniel stopped and looked up. "Uh. Oh. I guess...we've had this conversation before."

"Indeed we have," Teal'c said, glaring at him. Daniel thought he might be more afraid if he didn't know that they needed him to translate the Ancient, but then he realized that, if this day kept repeating itself, someone could kill him and then he'd be resurrected again the next day. In fact, they could do _anything_ and it wouldn't matter, would it, at least to the people within the loop...and for the people unaffected, they could do anything with no consequences at all. Well, true, it would delay the solution, but since the people in the loop would never know...

"Huh," Daniel said aloud.

" _Daniel_..." Jack said, looking like he might actually explode. Daniel wasn't sure Jack would be resurrected if he exploded, since he wasn't looping the same way as everyone else, so he supposed he should get to work.

"I'm assuming I told you last time," Daniel said, "that I'm not going to be able to translate this in a few hours."

"Oh, I am so ahead of you," Jack said, reaching out to grab the tape recorder on Daniel's desk. "I put the whole thing on tape last time so you don't have to start from scratch."

Jack pressed the PLAY button. Daniel listened to static come out. "Didn't...the recording get looped, too?" he said. Jack scowled at him and threw the recorder back onto the desk.

"Did I not say your plan would be unsuccessful?" Teal'c said.

Jack raised a finger and looked like he was restraining himself from poking Teal'c's eye out. "Careful--be careful," he warned.

"So...you're the only ones who don't forget everything the next day," Daniel said. "Maybe...if you memorize this as we go, you can act as the...uh...like human tape recorders."

"Oh, first I'm a little girl, and now I'm a tape recorder?" Jack said.

"What?" Daniel said.

Teal'c took one of the images and said, "We will assist in whatever way we can."

...x...

Robert was meeting someone he wanted to hire from a school in California, so Daniel found someone else to help instead. Through a combination of dragging and begging, he managed to convince Nyan that, if Nyan didn't help him, those artifacts needing analysis would _never_ get analyzed, and then he would have to catalogue them and then catalogue them again the next day, and the next...

"Oh, no," Nyan said, looking horrified. "It is like Sisyphus!"

"Yeah," Daniel said, "so--hey, you've been reading about Greek mythology."

"Yes, certainly, and many others," Nyan said, nodding. "It is very interes--"

Jack threw Nyan over his shoulders, walked into Daniel's office, and deposited the Bedrosian on the floor.

"I believe I shall help you," Nyan said with a sigh.

So Nyan wrote out the Ancient on the blackboard while Daniel started filling in the translation under it where the meaning was immediately obvious.

"Pot-err- _ay_ -muss," Jack said. Daniel winced but continued. "Puh- _tair_ -uh. _Pot_ -er-rat."

"Okay," Daniel said to stop Jack from butchering Latin. "How many times have you looped?"

"Four?" Jack said.

"This is the fifth time we have lived through this day," Teal'c said.

"What about Abydos?" Daniel said, suddenly worried and writing faster, as if he could speed the process that way. "If Sam says we're cut off from the rest of the...universe, then what if they try to contact us?"

"I believe Abydos is one of the closest planets to Earth in the network of Stargates," Teal'c reminded him. "It is likely that they are trapped in the same way."

"Nice, huh?" Jack said. " _Crem. Air_ -uh. No, wait, that's _air-_ us--"

"I will find a dictionary," Nyan said, dusting the chalk off his hands and leaving the room.

_"Unscheduled off-world activation!"_

Daniel continued writing as much as he could in the hopes that either Jack or Teal'c was still paying attention and starting to memorize as much as possible, but instead, he heard Jack's voice behind him say, "You know the worst part about this? Every time we loop, Daniel asks me a question, and...I wasn't listening the first time."

"You are not the only one who must endure some discomfort, O'Neill," Teal'c said.

"Jack," Daniel said, rolling his eyes, "my question was--"

* * *

**_10 October 2000; Commissary, SGC; 0855 hrs_ **

"Anyway," Daniel said to Jack, "that's just how I feel about it. What do you think?"

"Skip the briefing," Jack said, dropping his spoon so abruptly that milk splashed up from his bowl.

"No," Daniel said, and then, "What?"

"We have to translate the altar."

Sam had stopped mid-chew and looked at Daniel, and then at Jack. "Sir?" she said.

"Not you," Jack said impatiently, waving a hand at her. "You need to work on how the altar accesses the subspace field from the Stargate and stop the geomagnetic storm from powering it and making us all loop again. Daniel, c'mon, and get Nyan. Where's Teal'c?"

Daniel blinked at his pancakes, wondering what they'd put into it this morning. Then he looked into his coffee cup, which looked and smelled and tasted quite normal. Sam looked like she was trying to make her eyeballs pop out of her head. "What?" he repeated.

"Daniel!" Jack said.

"Jack," Daniel protested.

Jack stood up, pulled Daniel's chair away from the table with a jerk, and latched onto the back of his jacket and began to stalk out the door.

"Sam," Daniel said as he was led forcefully out of the commissary. "Um...could you, uh...tell the general that Jack's...um..."

"I'm not crazy," Jack said, dragging him into the elevator.

"That's very comforting," Daniel told him.

" _Domavetus vestul motabilum_ ," Jack said, punching the button for the eighteenth floor. "Master of the uncertain past. That's what you said, so you get to spend all day translating hundreds of pages of alien text."

"Huh," Daniel said, mulling that over and trying to piece it together. "That doesn't sound so bad."

...x...

"Okay, so, _perennial inventus_ ," Daniel said, looking at the untranslated sections while Nyan wrote in what Jack and Teal'c remembered. "You called Shifu _perennial_ once, so--"

"The approaching disaster," Teal'c provided.

Daniel stopped in surprise, then started to write it in. "Right. Okay. How many times have you looped?"

"Ten," Teal'c said.

* * *

**_10 October 2000; Archaeology Office, SGC; 1200 hrs_ **

"What about Abydos?" Daniel said, looking up from his work. "I mean, if we're trapped in a loop, then won't they wonder...?"

"You have asked that question before, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said. "Abydos is within the space that is undergoing the time loop."

"Oh," Daniel said. "Okay. Hey, how many times have you looped, anyway?"

"Eighteen," Jack said.

* * *

**_10 October 2000; Archaeology Office, SGC; 1200 hrs_ **

"How many times have you looped?" Daniel asked absently.

"I don't know," Jack said.

"Twenty-nine times," Teal'c said.

"That's, uh...huh. That's a lot. Anyway...the...approaching..." Daniel wrote onto the blackboard. Nyan coughed. "...disaster..." Nyan coughed louder.

Daniel turned around. Jack was juggling. So was Teal'c. Daniel was pretty sure they were juggling his notes. "I will never finish analyzing my artifacts," Nyan said sadly.

* * *

**_10 October 2000; Archaeology Office, SGC; 1200 hrs_ **

"How many times have you looped?" Daniel asked Teal'c as they waited in the office for Jack to join them and translate.

"Forty-one times," Teal'c said.

Daniel grimaced. "Wow. Feels like just yesterday that..." he started, then decided to stop upon seeing Teal'c's face.

They waited for five minutes before Teal'c decided he should go to find Jack. Then Daniel waited with Nyan for five more minutes before Daniel decided he should go to find both of them.

He'd just opened the door to the commissary when he heard someone yell, _"WACKO!"_

Jack was holding a plate with a twisted, angry face drawn on it in what looked like ketchup and mustard. Daniel thought it was probably a bad thing that Jack's face looked a little like that, too. Teal'c stared at the plate, then took it away and placed it facedown on Jack's head. Daniel blinked a few times to make sure he wasn't seeing things, then carefully backed away.

* * *

**_10 October 2000; Archaeology Office, SGC; 1200 hrs_ **

"How many times have you looped?" Daniel asked as Teal'c wrote in a translation that must have taken Daniel and Nyan together...well, a long, long time to hammer out.

"Mrngh," Jack said, sounding like he was facedown on the table.

"I have lost count," Teal'c said, putting down the chalk and taking his seat

Daniel turned around to see them both slumped in their chairs. He didn't think he'd ever seen Teal'c slumped anywhere before, except when injured, and Jack seemed to be trying to suffocate himself in his BDU jacket sleeve, so he scrambled for something to say. "Um. Well, it's like I was saying this morning. The rest of us wouldn't know the difference if you did something else. Right? I mean, I'd be mad at you for a few hours, and then I'd forget it ever happened--"

The door swung violently behind Jack as he ran out of the room. Teal'c stood, looking like he was about to bow at them, then turned and followed Jack.

"Oops," Daniel said.

Nyan sighed. "I will never finish analyzing my artifacts," he said sadly.

* * *

**_10 October 2000; Archaeology Office, SGC; 1200 hrs_ **

"How many times have you looped?" Daniel asked as Jack wrote in a translation.

"An even number," Jack said. He stepped back, looked over the translation, and filled in something else. "Since we started counting again, anyway. I don't know the exact number."

Daniel exchanged a glance with Nyan. "Then how do you know it's an even number?"

"Because if it were an odd number," Jack said, "Teal'c would be here and I wouldn't."

"That's not very efficient," Daniel pointed out.

Jack turned and gave him a look. "It was your idea."

"Was it? Well, uh...please don't tell the general that," Daniel said. "Hey, wait, where are you going?" Jack raised his eyebrows and continued out the door. Daniel sighed.

* * *

**_10 October 2000; Archaeology Office, SGC; 1200 hrs_ **

"Where's Jack?" Daniel asked as Teal'c filled in a blank.

"He is preparing to resign his commission," Teal'c said calmly.

Alarmed, Daniel said, "What? Why?"

"I believe he wishes to pursue the skill of clay-working."

"He has to resign to do that?" Daniel said, puzzled.

"He has done so in the past," Teal'c said. "It is preferable to allowing him to become wacko."

"Oh," Daniel said. He glanced at Nyan. Nyan didn't seem to get it, either. This was comforting. "How many times have you looped?"

Teal'c didn't even pause before going on. "I am uncertain."

* * *

**_10 October 2000; Briefing Room, SGC; 1730 hrs_ **

"We've finished the translation," Daniel announced.

"Yep," Jack said when he'd finally stopped spinning his chair around in circles. "Which says..."

"...that Ancients used to live on the planet," Daniel went on. "Which we knew. But now, we also know that the Ancients living there suffered some...some kind of disaster, which was going to destroy them all. So they built a time machine."

"They wanted to go back in time and change their history," Jack said. "Change their fate."

Daniel nodded. " _Domavetus vestul motabilum_."

Sam and the general stared at him. Teal'c supplied, "Master of the uncertain past. It is a reference to the fact that, using this device, the past could be considered ever-changing." The stares transferred to Teal'c.

"Right," Daniel said. "That was what they'd thought, anyway, but they never made it work. Instead of going back to the specific time they chose, they got stuck in a continuous loop of...well, I don't know how long, but probably--"

"Let's say it was about ten hours," Jack said impatiently. "The point is, we can shut down this loop by"--he waved a hand vaguely in the air--"pushing the right buttons. Sir, we _have_ to go, and go now, before it's too late. _Please_."

Daniel glanced sideways at him to see Jack's former restlessness had become something almost like desperation. He wasn't sure he wanted to ask just how many times they'd looped.

"Colonel," General Hammond said, standing up, "have your team geared up and ready to embark immediately."

...x...

**_10 October 2000; P4X-639; 1800 hrs_ **

No one was there when they arrived. Daniel frowned--SG-15 had said there was an archaeologist here. In fact, Jack and Teal'c both insisted that there had been an archaeologist here, too. "Oh, look, there it is," Daniel said, pointing at the altar.

"Yes, Daniel," Jack said, in a tone that said he was rolling his eyes behind his sunglasses, "we've seen it before. Malikai! Get the hell out here!"

"Are--"

"Yes, I'm sure he's here, and yes," he went on when Daniel opened his mouth again, "I'm sure I wasn't imagining it!"

Wow. Okay.

"Fan out," Jack said, a little more calmly. Sam ducked behind one of the pillar-like rocks scattered around the place while Jack took the other side. Daniel started to find his place, too, before seeing that Teal'c was walking boldly toward the altar, which meant that SG-1's tactics in the face of potential combat weren't the same as the small unit tactics he'd been drilled in at the Alpha Site. Well, either that, or Teal'c was just as desperate as Jack. Feeling useless, Daniel hung back, turning around to make sure no one was behind them, and followed Jack and Sam--

Teal'c crashed into thin air and flew backward to land on the ground. Immediately, Daniel felt his heart begin to pump faster as adrenaline spiked into his veins.

"Teal'c!" Jack said. Sam broke cover to crouch by Teal'c, and as she did so, movement by the altar caught Daniel's eye.

A man had walked out and stood behind the device. "Malikai?" Daniel asked, guessing this couldn't be anyone but the alien archaeologist.

Jack stopped just short of where Teal'c seemed to have been struck. He bent down, picked up a small stone, and threw it toward Malikai.

Daniel barely had time to move to one side as the stone bounced back and whizzed past him. "It's no use," Sam said, helping Teal'c sit up and find his feet again. "It looks like a variation of a Goa'uld force shield."

"You are correct, Major," Malikai said. "You have come to stop my work--I cannot allow that to happen." So the man _did_ know who they were.

"Why not?" Jack said angrily. "Because you want to be king of Groundhog Day?"

"Do you think I would do this for personal power?" Malikai snapped back. "She--" He stopped.

Jack's gaze flickered to something by Malikai's hand, as if he knew what it was. "What happened?" he asked, a little less angrily.

"She died," he said, looking down at the whatever-it-was on the altar. "Twelve years ago. I cannot save her, but I have almost finished my work--then I can go back and see her one more..." He choked off, and Daniel didn't know who _she_ was, but it was clearly someone important. If not for the fact that he thought Jack was going to go insane if someone didn't fix the time loop very soon, Daniel might have sympathized.

"The device doesn't work," Daniel said. "It says that the Ancients tried to make it work and were only able to make it...loop, the way it is now. You're an archaeologist, right? How long do you think this place has been abandoned? Their civilization was dying, and if they could have changed things, they would have."

"If you continue, you will be trapped," Teal'c said, "along with billions of innocent others."

Not that the innocent others would notice, Daniel reflected. Did it matter what they did one day if they didn't remember it the next? "The device activates fourteen Stargates simultaneously," Sam explained. "That's fourteen worlds reliving the same day over and over."

"I...I didn't realize," Malikai said. He looked back down at the altar, as if considering that, then shook his head. "You're wrong--I can make it work. I just--"

"The people who made the Stargates couldn't make the damn thing work!" Jack yelled, looking like he wanted to take a step forward, if the barrier hadn't been there. "And even if you could do it--you can't change what happened to your wife!"

Oh. So that was who _she_ was.

"And when she dies again?" Jack went on furiously. "Then what? You'll start over?"

The altar began to move. "Uh-oh," Daniel said, staring at the buttons were pushing themselves.

"I know what it's like!" Jack shouted, more desperate now. "I lost my son!" Daniel looked back at Jack in surprise, then away again, suddenly even more uncomfortable than he'd been before. "And I know...and as much as..." Jack faltered. Daniel looked away from the expression on his face. "I could never live through that again. Could you?"

Finally, Malikai looked up at all of them and said, in almost a sob, "No."

Jack took an audible breath. From his peripheral vision, Daniel saw fists clench and unclench slowly. "Let her go," Jack said steadily.

There was silence for a long time. When the sound of grinding stone grew louder, Daniel looked up just in time to miss how Malikai pushed the buttons to make it work. He decided it would be a bad time to ask the man to do it again so he could watch.

The force shield dropped. Jack walked forward and placed something in Malikai's hand. Daniel, knowing he was missing most of what was happening, glanced at Teal'c, but the Jaffa was watching Jack and didn't seem to notice the others.

Finally, Jack turned around and rejoined the group. Daniel opened his mouth to point out that they were supposed to have completed a mission here, and that Sam hadn't even had any time to set up her equipment and Malikai was walking away from them in the other direction when Daniel hadn't even had the chance to _talk_ to him--

Teal'c swung his staff weapon down and fired at the time device, blasting a corner off. "Teal'c!" Daniel said, horrified, but his voice was drowned out in the sound of Jack's gun, and he ducked his head to protect it from the flying shards of rock.

When silence fell again, Daniel raised his head and met Sam's wide-eyed stare. He turned back around to see the Ancient device crumbled, with one entire section broken off from the rest. Malikai's back was to them, but he didn't stop or turn around.

"Let's go," Jack said.

Daniel was still frozen as Jack and Teal'c brushed past. It took Jack's call of "Carter! Daniel! Let's _go_ ," to make them both move.

As Daniel dialed the DHD, he said tentatively, "I don't understand."

"Doesn't matter," Jack said. "It's over."


	8. The Enkarans

**_11 October 2000; Commissary, SGC; 0800 hrs_ **

"We got a message from the Tok'ra," Sam said, taking a seat next to them at breakfast. "Apparently, they've been trying to contact us for almost four months. Some of them were starting to worry that we'd kidnapped Martouf and weren't giving him back."

"So you lived the same...ten hours over and over again for four months?" Daniel said to Jack and Teal'c.

"Indeed," Teal'c said as Jack took a gigantic bite from his bowl of oatmeal.

"That's..." Sam said, then tilted her head, thinking. "That's about three-hundred loops."

"That must have been frustrating," Daniel said.

Jack looked like he was having trouble swallowing his enormous mouthful. "Yep," he finally managed to say.

"And you learned Ancient in that time," he said with a pang of jealousy.

"As much as we had to," Jack said.

Daniel thought about all the opportunities he'd missed recently to read lots of books and learn lots of languages within a short period of time. There had been the Atanik armbands, and then this time device... "You know," he said aloud, "since you were repeating the same day over and over, you could try out things--you know, do whatever you wanted--and we'd never know now that you'd done them. Right?" he said to Sam.

She shrugged. "I guess that's true. That only extends as far as our bubble, of course."

"So," Daniel said, watching Jack attempt an even bigger spoonful. "Did you ever do anything...crazy?"

Jack managed to fit the spoon into his mouth and chewed slowly, looking at him and Sam. Sam raised her eyebrows in question, looking interested. Daniel waited for Jack to finish swallowing and say, "You know, you asked me that before in one of the loops."

Daniel supposed it wasn't surprising; his brain was his brain, after all. "And?" he prompted.

In answer, Jack only dug in again and smiled. Teal'c bent over his plate and ate his waffles.

Daniel exchanged a glance with Sam. "What?"

"Nothing," Jack said.

"Sir?" Sam said, looking skeptical as the smile aimed itself at her.

Jack jammed his spoon into his mouth again. "Mm-hm," he said, then focused on his breakfast.

...x...

**_11 October 2000; Archaeology Office, SGC; 1600 hrs_ **

Jack stepped into the office, knocking loudly on the doorframe. "Where's Rothman?" he asked.

"Uh," Daniel said, peeling his eyes away from his book. "Why, what do you need?"

Jack shrugged, prodding at the open door until the doorstop came out and it swung closed. "Whoops. Nothing, I was just wondering why he's not here."

"He went on a mission this morning," Daniel told him.

"What's this?" Jack said, pulling Daniel's book partially closed so he could see the cover. " _Classical Cryptanalysis and..._ geez. That looks...interesting."

"It is," Daniel said. He had done a lot of his work by instinct as much as anything else; eventually, he needed to learn some theory. "It's not completely unrelated to language decipherment and other linguistic...matters, which, obviously, is an important part of my job." Jack set the book back down. "It's for a class," Daniel added. "Which I'm not...taking, exactly, but I'm reading the material that--"

"Ah," Jack said. "This is Air Force material."

"Sort...of," Daniel said, because it sort of was, in that the book was used in a course that was administered by an institution that had something to do with the Air Force. "Not military enough for you?"

Jack shrugged. "Never said you had to be military."

_Just a little_ more _military than I am now,_ Daniel thought resignedly, but he was used to that. "So--what's up?"

"Now, why would you think something's up?"

"I didn't--" Daniel started, then stopped. All of a sudden, he realized that he hadn't asked what he really should have much earlier. "Are you okay?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "Didn't I just say that?"

"No," Daniel said. "Are you okay?"

"I'm _fine_ ," Jack said, but he was poking around in the archaeology office for no apparent reason. "D'you know when our next mission is?"

Daniel slowly closed his book and pushed away from the desk. "Yeah," he said, watching Jack stare at the blackboard. "Next Tuesday. General Hammond mentioned it during the debriefing."

"Ah," Jack said, then dragged one end of the blackboard around to face Daniel. It was still covered with Ancient writing with translations under it. "You wrote this," Jack said, pointing to one phrase that was most definitely in Nyan's handwriting.

"Nyan wrote that," Daniel said.

"But the first time, _you_ wrote it," Jack explained.

"Okay," Daniel said, standing up. "Jack, um. Do you think you should go home?"

"I'm not losing it, Daniel."

"No, we're technically off for the day. Why do you think I'm reading this book?"

"I'm _fine_ ," Jack said.

"Okay," Daniel said, then pointed at the blackboard. "Who wrote that?"

"For cryin' out loud," Jack said. "I _know_ you didn't write it this time. But you wrote it the first time. That's all I'm saying."

"I don't think you're losing it," Daniel said. "Just...what's this about?"

Jack looked at Daniel. "What is this, Dr. Phil?"

Daniel ignored the unfamiliar reference with the ease of long practice and said, "I've been wondering something. The person who wrote that"--he pointed--"the first time...was he real?"

"Makes you wonder, doesn't it?" Jack said, sounding relieved that he understood, even though Daniel didn't understand quite yet. "How many yous are out there?"

"Just one, presumably, at least right now," Daniel said. "Actually, you, Sam, and Teal'c have androids somewhere, too, so there are more of you three than there are of me. If we start counting alternate realities, though--"

"That's not what I'm talking about," Jack said.

"Yeah, it's not really the same," Daniel acknowledged, still grasping at straws.

"Sometimes, I got you to believe me," Jack said. Daniel frowned, not liking the fact that he only sometimes believed Jack. It was the kind of story that should leave any reasonable person skeptical, but he'd seen enough at the SGC that he should have given the benefit of the doubt, especially when it was Jack and Teal'c.

"Sorry I didn't believe you more than sometimes," Daniel said.

Jack waved a hand. "You were better than Hammond and Carter. Her, I had to recite astrophysics to convince. You were usually sold at that Cassandra stuff."

"Why was Cassandra here?"

"Not Cassie; some fortune-teller," Jack said.

"The Trojan Cassandra?" Daniel said. "Well, yes, actually, I see why that might have come up. She was a prophetess who--"

"Aht!" Jack said, raising both of his hands and squeezing his eyes shut. "I know. No one believes her and everyone dies."

"Close enough," Daniel said, thinking curiously that there had been a Daniel who'd told this to Jack already, probably several times, and that there had been a Daniel who had figured out a few Ancient words that he himself didn't know, and that he himself knew a few Ancient words that other Daniels hadn't known. "You know, every one of us who's been around you and Teal'c for the last...several...uh, day...well, there are multiple different versions of us that existed. And each of us was different, just a little bit."

"Makes you wonder," Jack repeated. "Sometimes, when you got convinced you were just going to loop away, you acted totally different."

Daniel raised his eyebrows. "Really? Me?"

"Yeah."

"Different how?"

Jack shrugged. "Just...like you weren’t real. Sort of...distant. Worked fast as hell, though."

"Well, he wasn't real, in a way--or at least, he's not now," Daniel said, and then he wondered whether the other Daniels had acted detached or if Jack had simply seen them that way, because what must it be like to live something over and over while no one else remembered? "I'm real now," he offered.

"Yeah, I figured," Jack said, pulling down the top of the blackboard and spinning it on its rack until Daniel winced to see it narrowly miss hitting an artifact. "Anyway, we can get rid of this now." He picked up an eraser.

"No, no, wait, wait, wait!" Daniel said, standing quickly and catching Jack's arm before he could erase more than a few letters. "Wait! I haven't finished copying that down yet. I don't actually know it all, and there's vocabulary there to learn, and...and..."

Jack was staring at him. "I could just recite it back for you," he said.

"Do you want to?"

"No. But I don’t really want to look at it, either."

Daniel bit his lip, then found a tin of magnets in Robert's drawer and started covering the blackboard carefully with sheets of paper. "Now you don't have to look at it," he said as he fastened paper over the writing, "and I can copy it down later so you don't have to recite it."

Jack didn't answer, so he continued papering the board until only a bit was left sticking out at the corner. As Daniel contemplated the advantages of using an entire sheet of paper or ripping one to fit the area, Jack said dryly, "I think I can deal with seeing a half-inch line of chalk at the corner of Rothman's blackboard."

"Well, partly, this is to make sure no one erases it, too," Daniel admitted. "Right now, this symbol is an affricate, but if someone happened to wipe off that top portion, then I wouldn't be able to tell whether it was originally that or a vowel, and obviously, that would be a big difference."

"You think I'd come and erase part of this just to throw you off whenever you translate Ancient from now on?" Jack said. Daniel shrugged. "I might," Jack conceded thoughtfully. Daniel pulled the blackboard farther away from him, then slapped a final piece of paper onto the board and stuck it there with a magnet. "You know what pisses me off?"

"Me?" Daniel said.

As if to prove his point, Jack looked annoyed at that answer. "Out of I-don't-know-how-many time loops, I only managed to drag you out of this office once. _Once_. And you know where you went?"

Daniel imagined where he'd go if Jack and Teal'c were stuck in a time loop and possibly insane and Jack had done something drastic enough to make him leave the office. "Sam's lab?"

Jack glared at him.

"Why'd I leave?"

"I got Nyan to put a stink bomb in your desk."

"You--Jack!"

"Me Jack," Jack said. "You Daniel."

Daniel checked his desk drawers, just in case.

When he looked up, Jack was glancing back at the closed door. He pulled the door open, then pushed it deliberately shut this time, closed the other door, too, and turned around. Jack made a face, and then said abruptly, too quietly for the security cameras to pick up, "I kissed Carter in the time loop."

"I kissed her once, too," Daniel whispered back.

Jack's eyebrows shot up. "You what? When? Where? Daniel!"

"What?" Daniel said defensively. "It was in a VIP room. She was upset."

"So you _kissed_ her in a VIP room?"

"Well, where did _you_ kiss her?"

"In the control room, because I was going nuts, and it was fun to see everyone's expressions!"

"You kissed Sam in front of other people?" Daniel hissed, a little horrified, because he didn't need years of experience around Tau'ri military to know that wasn't acceptable behavior between Sam and Jack, especially around other people.

"Well, at least it wasn't in private!" Jack said. "What the hell?"

And then Daniel thought about why people's expressions would be fun to watch. "Wait, when you say you kissed her, you mean you _kissed_ her, like...like you're not supposed to?" Not that Jack was really supposed to kiss Sam in any way, but...

Jack was frowning deeply now. "Well...yeah. What did you think I meant?"

"I kissed her hair," Daniel said.

"Ah," Jack said. "I didn't."

"Yeah." Daniel scratched his head and looked at the floor, then looked back up. "You can't treat Sam like that."

"Excuse me? I didn't do any--"

"You kissed her! And you knew she wouldn't remember it, so you were just using her...her body for..." He stopped upon seeing Jack's face and felt himself starting to blush just at the topic.

"You're the one who said it didn't matter," Jack pointed out.

"But...okay," Daniel said, "but you shouldn't have done that." Jack knew that already, though, on some level, or he wouldn't be in here saying it like he was confessing a crime.

"Nuts," Jack repeated. "And we were just gonna loop, anyway."

"That's not an excuse."

"Nuts," Jack stressed.

Daniel sighed, making sure both doors were firmly shut. It was a good thing that whoever reviewed the security tapes was probably very used to seeing Daniel and Jack snap at each other in this room; no one would pay special attention to something like this and start a rumor. "Don't do it again," he warned.

"What if I want to?"

"Then ask her first, obviously!" Daniel said, and then, "Wait, do you? Want to?"

"No," Jack said sullenly, sticking his hands into his pockets and looking a little bit like a boy called before Kasuf for doing something stupid.

"Okay, then."

"Don't tell her," Jack warned.

"No, yeah, I won't," Daniel said, not eager to talk about that with Sam in any way. Remembering, though, that Jack wasn't the only one who'd lived through the same day over and over and over, he suggested, "Want to go pick on Teal'c?"

"He's in the gym," Jack said.

Daniel amended, "Want to go let Teal'c pick on us?"

Jack snorted. "Fine."

XXXXX

**_17 October 2000; P4B-380; 1800 hrs_ **

Jack glanced at Teal'c as he examined some symbol carved into a stone. "Does that tell you anything?" he asked.

"I do not recognize this symbol," Teal'c said. "However, it may be the sign of a System Lord."

"Still here?"

"If a Goa'uld or his forces were still present, we would know it already."

Jack looked out into the distance again, where Daniel had struck up what had seemed like a friendly conversation with the locals in their village--the Enkarans--and found that their linguist had disappeared. Worried, Jack reached up to his radio. "Daniel, where are you?"

Immediately, the crackle of radio returned. _"I'm fine, Jack--inside one of the houses. There's... A lot of these people are sick. They want to know if we can help them, but I don't recognize what this is."_

Exchanging a glance with Teal'c, Jack said, "Sick how?"

There was a pause as they started toward the village. _"Some people are going blind,"_ Daniel finally answered, sounding bewildered. _"A lot of them just feel...generally sick or weak. I have no idea what's going on, Jack--there are so many of them."_

"Level A," Jack snapped, reaching back to his pack. "Now. Don't touch anything or anyone without gloves at the very least, understood?"

_"I'm already exposed, and I don't want to alarm them. In fact, we're probably_ all _exposed already if there's something to be exposed to."_

"I don't care! Now, Jackson, that's an order." In the silence that followed, Jack tugged his biohazard mask on and hoped Daniel was choosing to follow orders today. "You catch that, Carter?" he added in between pulling on his gloves.

_"Yes, sir,"_ she answered. _"I'll meet you in the village--I have a theory."_

Teal'c's masked head turned toward Jack, who imagined there was an eyebrow rising in there. Who but Carter would have a theory already?

A dark-haired man stepped out just as Jack and Teal'c arrived inside the walls that surrounded the small town. " _Jasha,_ " the man said, pointing. When they shook their heads, he added, "Dan-i-yel. _Bevakhashia, jasha._ "

Jack followed the man's finger and ducked into the largest building in the area, dimly lit with candles. It didn't take long to find out that this was a sort of infirmary, with occasional coughs sounding from people lying on pallets. A masked figure was crouched next to one woman lying in a corner when Jack and Teal'c walked in. "Daniel, report," Jack said.

The masked head turned, and Daniel stood, pulling the two of them aside. "They've been here several generations, as far as I can tell--some Goa'uld brought them here in ships, because their homeworld doesn't have a _chaapa'ai_ , but the Goa'uld left about four generations ago."

"And this...sickness thing is new?" Jack asked, aware of murmuring as people stared at the three of them whispering together in the corner.

Daniel made a movement as if to push up his glasses and poked himself in the mask instead. "Not exactly. They've always had people go blind--a really high number, from what I can understand. The other stuff seems to be the same sicknesses we see everywhere, and without knowing about their medicine, I don't know if there's a higher incidence here than elsewhere or just inferior medical practices, but they say it's gotten worse over the last year, _along_ with the blindness. I don't know what causes that."

Another person pushed into the house. "Sir?" Carter's voice said from behind her mask. "I'd like to take a look at the patients--I have an idea."

"Okay. We'll wait outside," Jack told her, not wanting to disturb the sick people any more than they already had.

"I'll stay with Sam," Daniel said, then turned to talk to the dark-haired man who'd shown them in, presumably to explain why there were masked people poking around.

Jack stepped outside the hospital and asked Teal'c, "What do you think? Did a Goa'uld do this?"

Teal'c tilted his head, then said, "I am not certain. The Goa'uld are not without patience, but neither do they act without cause. I cannot see the sense in destroying a world so slowly and so many years after departing. This tactic is too inefficient."

"So, what, a regular old plague?"

"I do not know of a plague that would cause the sickness we observed within," Teal'c said. "But it is possible."

Carter and Daniel came out as they were running out of plausible explanations. "I don't think it's an infectious disease per se, sir," Carter said. "Did you happen to notice their eyes?"

"That they're yellow?" Jack said. "Yeah, it was kinda creepy at first. Hard not to notice."

"It might be more than just normal pigmentation. If you look closely, you'll see a lot of them have ocular damage. I know that too much UV exposure from welding can cause damage like that, and I'd guess excessive UV exposure from other sources could do the same--like the sun. We'd need a doctor's opinion, but it could explain a lot of what we're seeing here."

"Okay," Jack said, holding up a hand and wondering how they'd gotten from 'sick' to 'sun,' "but apparently, it's been getting worse all of a sudden. Why now and do _we_ need to get out of here? We're standing under the sun, too."

"And there could be other reasons than the sun, right?" Daniel pointed out.

"There could," she said. "But I've been comparing the data we received from the MALP when it was first sent and data I collected a few hours ago. Now, the MALP was first sent eight days ago on Earth, and then this planet got put onto our schedule. But..."

"But since we have been trapped in the time loop," Teal'c said, "many months may have passed here during that time."

"Exactly. If we estimate about four months, maybe more, then the UV radiation has increased almost twenty-five percent in the last few months."

Jack glanced up at the sun, as if it would tell him something. "And that's bad," he clarified.

But, of course, there could be no simple, straight-forward answers. "Actually, sir, it wouldn't be to us," Carter said. "It's only a fraction of what we experience on Earth. But proportionally, it's a huge increase, and for all we know, the Enkarans are genetically biased so as to be much more sensitive to UV radiation than the average human from Earth."

"Not dangerous to us," Jack repeated.

"No, sir, I don't think so."

"And their _planet_ is making them blind and sick."

"Their sun, sir," she corrected. As Daniel started to take off his mask, she added quickly, "But it could be something else. I have a very limited set of data, and I'm not a medical doctor."

Daniel sighed and left the mask on. "But the point is that they can't stay here, right?" he said. "Is there a way to stop the radiation from getting stronger?"

Carter shook her head. "I doubt it. The simplest explanation would be that their ozone layer is being depleted for some reason--maybe that's why the Goa'uld left, knowing this wasn't a stable environment, or maybe it's some...some other phenomenon. And we don't have a way to slow the accelerating decrease of UV protection, much less replenish it."

"Then relocation is the only possibility," Teal'c summarized.

"Even then, it'll be complicated," she said. "The UV exposure here is already pretty low compared to what we usually see on sustainable planets."

"So you really think it's some genetic weakness?" Jack asked. "We meet humans all the time, apparently on worlds with more UV, and we've never seen this."

"They came from another planet relatively recently," Daniel said. "Populations in isolation have been known to exhibit all sorts of genetic biases. And especially since there's no Stargate there according to their oral history, Enkarans have probably been on some...low ultraviolet radiation place...for a long, long time. A few generations isn't long enough for adaption to something like this, not if they're dying too fast for evolution to keep up."

"Then we'd better start looking," Jack said.

"Sir, I'd like to ask them if I can bring a few afflicted Enkarans back to Earth for a doctor to examine," Carter said. "Then we'd be better able to judge whether I'm completely off base."

"Didn't you say Earth's ozone's not good enough?"

"I wouldn't take them outside, definitely," she said, "and without knowing their threshold for UV exposure, we'd need to be careful even with artificial sources and diagnostic equipment, but I think it would be worth it for a short time. Less than a day, probably."

Jack glanced over Daniel's shoulder at the Enkarans watching them discuss, then said, "All right. Carter, go back to 'gate, tell General Hammond what's going on, and see what we can do about getting them diagnosed by a doctor--safely. Set up a quarantine, too, for us and the Enkarans, until we have a doctor's note to say no one's contagious."

"Yes, sir," she said, then turned and jogged toward the Stargate.

"Daniel, see if they'll agree to that," Jack said. "And in the meantime, see what they think about relocation."

"I think they'll agree," Daniel said. "They don't think of this planet as their real home, anyway, and did you notice how friendly they were when we arrived, with the food and everything? That's why--they know they're dying, and they're desperate for help."

Jack grimaced behind his mask. "I noticed," he said, annoyed with himself for not having realized why at the time. "Tell them they don't need to ply us with gifts. We'll do what we can to help, no bribes necessary."

Daniel nodded and started away, then stopped. "Why don't you two come with me? They're very friendly; we should get to know them, anyway, if we're helping them move to a new world."

Jack looked back to see Carter reach the DHD. "Yeah, all right," he said, and followed Daniel to talk to the Enkarans.

XXXXX

**_18 October 2000; Briefing Room, SGC; 1700 hrs_ **

"Judging from the three patients I saw," Dr. Fraiser said, "UV radiation is a probable cause, especially since the samples you brought back haven't shown signs of any known contagions. Aside from the vision defects, they're significantly immunodepressed, which could also explain the increase in other illnesses that you've observed. I've found some genetic damage, too, which can be caused by UV cleavage of various biomolecules into reactive species, and it could indicate a propensity toward cancer and other diseases."

"In other words," Jack said grimly, "the Enkarans are dying."

She hesitated, then nodded. "Not yet, Colonel, but they will be. From Major Carter's observations, the radiation is only going to increase, and according to Daniel, the Enkarans say it was almost too much for them even when they were first taken to the planet."

General Hammond had folded his hands on the table. "How is the relocation effort looking?"

"The Enkarans are willing to move as soon as a viable planet is found," Daniel said. "They would have gone sooner if they'd known how to use the Stargate and where to go. Teal'c's helping them pack what they can and gather their families together as we speak."

"But on our end..." Jack said. "Not so successful."

"I've been sending probes to several planets, sir," Carter said. "So far, there are two possible hits, judging by the MALP sensors, but I can't say for sure that those are safe planets until we check them out."

"And Daniel and I have been pulling known abandoned or friendly planets from previous missions," Jack said, pushing three folders to the end of the table. "These are the only ones with MALP UV readings below what Major Carter says they need."

But Carter was already shaking her head as she began to look through them. "These two aren't viable for other reasons. This one...might work," she said. "But we can't be sure whether it's sustainable in terms of agriculture and other needs, not to mention safe."

"So we've got three possibilities so far," Jack said. "I think we need to do some exploring, General."

"Then that's where we'll start," Hammond said. "You'll follow an abbreviated recon schedule for each planet, and if you don't report back by then, we'll assume you found trouble. I suggest you collect Teal'c and take him with you, too."

"Yes, sir," Jack agreed, because they knew oh-so-well that assumptions of 'safe' and 'abandoned' were worth squat.

"I'd like to have someone continue searching potential planets by MALP in the meantime, sir," Carter said.

Hammond nodded. "We'll keep doing that. I'll assign SG-2 and -4, as well."

"Um, wait," Daniel said as they all stood. "What about the Enkarans who are already sick? Isn't there anything we can do to help them?"

Oy. "Sunscreen?" Jack suggested, only partly joking.

Their eyes shifted to Fraiser, who said, "For now, tell them to stay inside as much as possible--cover the windows and make sure as little sunlight as possible can enter. I can give you some supplies that might provide some protection for when people _have_ to go outside, and some basic medicines. Beyond that...I'll start thinking about what other treatment we can provide, given their unique vulnerabilities."

Wanting to start the planet search as soon as possible, Jack said, "Carter and I'll meet Teal'c back on the Enkarans' planet and go to the first potential relocation site. Daniel, stay here for now, get what you can from Dr. Fraiser, and then go to the Enkarans and stick around to help them."

...x...

The first planet turned out to be so cold that, even with the heavy coats they'd brought with them, they turned around and left after less than half an hour when it became clear that they'd find nothing here but frostbite.

The second planet actually _was_ inhabited, which would have been okay if the inhabitants had been friendly. Instead, they turned out to be some sort of angry animal that looked like a cross between a lion and a cheetah, as well as some even angrier animal that could kill those. Carter thought she saw wings on one of them. Jack decided not to stick around and find out if she was right.

After the third planet, they returned to P4B-380 to find piles of belongings gathered near the Stargate, ready to move as promised, and Daniel looking exhausted from hauling things around with the Enkarans all day. "Please tell me you found something," he panted, dropping a bundle of what looked like farming tools onto the ground by the DHD. " _Naturu_ , they've got...so many people to move and..." He took a breath. "The..."

"Breathe," Jack ordered. For once, Daniel obeyed.

"No luck," Carter said. "But we're still sending MALPs to planets from the Ancient database--"

"Ancient?" Daniel said, pulling the bandana from his head and retying it more tightly. "Why--oh. Because Jack already recalculated those coordinates."

"Yes, I did," Jack said, despite not remembering having done it. "They're working on recalculating Abydos cartouche addresses in the meantime, too. So we're going to spend the night here and see what we can do to help out the Enkarans. We'll return to base in the morning and start searching whatever planets they'll have flagged in the meantime."

"Okay," Daniel said agreeably. "Sam, is this place bad if you're pregnant?"

Carter's eyebrows shot up. "Me?"

"No, not... There's a woman here--Eliam's wife--who's worried about her baby," he explained. "The radiation...will it hurt the baby?"

"Uh...I don't really know," she admitted. "But I'm sure it could hurt the mother, and her health will affect the baby, so...I hope she's not doing any heavy outdoor work."

As they made their way toward the village, Daniel said, "No, Eliam's making sure she doesn't....well, move, for the most part. But anyway, they need extra hands for just about everything, so I'm sure they'll be glad for help."

...x...

Night had fallen before there was time to stop and eat. Jack's stomach was growling and the food smelled good, especially considering the rush they were in to pack and get ready to move, so it took a bit of effort to stay still when one woman rose to her feet and everyone else quieted.

"Hedrazar," Daniel whispered to them. "The Enkaran leader."

To Jack's surprise, Hedrazar turned dull, blinded eyes toward them and said haltingly, "The Enkaran people thank you, SG-1."

"You're welcome," Jack answered, then tried one of the words he'd learned over the last few hours. " _Be-va-ha-shia_."

Someone giggled, maybe at his pronunciation, but a lot of others raised cups and shouted something that sounded happy in answer, then started to eat. Jack decided he liked these people.

"Colonel O'Neill," someone said, making him turn to see the same dark-haired man who'd met them at the village before, the one who seemed to act as Hedrazar's eyes. "You..." he started, then stopped, frowning. "We go," he amended, pointing toward the Stargate. " _Toff_?"

"Tough?" Jack echoed. Eliam, he remembered--this one was named Eliam.

" _Toff_ ," Daniel corrected. "It means 'good.'"

"Uh...yes," Jack said, gesturing vigorously. "Very toff place. If we find one."

" _Matai_?" Eliam said.

"M--oh, 'when,'" Jack said. Daniel was crazy for liking this whole learning-new-languages-in-a-few-hours gig. "When. Good question. As soon as we can." When Eliam continued to look confused, Jack nudged Daniel. "Tell him we're going back to look as soon as we get more MALP data."

Daniel happily obliged, though he seemed to get momentarily stuck around 'MALP.' And then the two of them had some fun playing charades, complete with robot noises from Daniel as he mimed a MALP driving over the ground. Carter looked on in amusement.

A sudden hand on his shoulder made him turn again, and he almost struck out at the invader before he realized it was Hedrazar. "Whoa--hi," Jack said, trying not to squirm under her hand.

"You people good," she said, her eyes aimed eerily at his nose and shining with what looked suspiciously like tears. "Thank you."

Jack carefully removed Hedrazar's hand from his shoulder, holding it an extra second so she'd know there was no offense. "No need for thanks," he said firmly. "The Enkarans seem like good people, too."

"The Enkarans...are good," she said, gripping his fingers tightly in her own. "We will live."

"Ooh, future tense," Daniel piped up, delighted. "You learn fast."

"The Enkarans are indeed very strong," Teal'c said calmly. "We will endeavor to find a home for your people, Hedrazar."

XXXXX

**_22 October 2000; P5S-381; 1300 hrs_ **

"Is this the new home?" Hedrazar said, holding onto Eliam's arm as she walked through the Stargate days later. She shivered and pulled her shawl tighter around herself.

"This is it," Jack told her, taking her other arm to help her away so other Enkarans could come through. "So what do you think?"

"Eliam?" she said.

Eliam looked around while he patted her hand. "We are strong people. We will remake our home here."

"All right," Jack said, smiling even though she couldn't see him. "Carter, show them to the first site we started setting up." Carter took his place at Hedrazar's side and began to lead the Enkaran leader to the site of the first new village to be established here. Jack reached up to his radio and called, "Daniel, Teal'c, you read?"

There was a pause, and then, _"We do, O'Neill. Have Hedrazar and Eliam arrived?"_

"Yeah, they're going now. Send the FRED through, and the first group of Enkarans. Keep an eye on the time--we've got thirty-six minutes to wormhole shut-down."

_"They're on their way, Jack,"_ Daniel said cheerfully. _"Do you need help on your side?"_

Jack watched the FRED emerge with a load of blankets and material for a few make-shift shelters. "Uh...yeah, we might want someone to help set up, at least the first round. One of you--" Daniel stepped out. "Okay. Send 'em through and stop in thirty-five minutes, Teal'c."

"We should unload this and send it back with the next wormhole," Daniel said, already maneuvering the FRED in the direction of Carter and Hedrazar. "I'll start doing that."

As he walked off, Jack called, "No, no need to ask me!" He received a wave in response. "Someone's cheerful today," he muttered.

He supposed they all were--it had taken three teams days on end to find a place that was acceptable. P5S-381 at least came equipped with a nice, thick layer of ozone (or a weak sun--Jack wasn't clear on that point and didn't really care) and fertile soil. The weather was going to be troublesome when winter hit in a few months, but it would be manageable.

The first few Enkarans started to step through the 'gate, looking around themselves with a mixture of awe and fear and hope, and Jack was relegated to traffic control, pointing them in the right direction.

Watching Daniel and Carter unload the FRED, though, it quickly became clear that this wasn't going to be an easy task. It was like the most rushed moving day he'd ever had, spread over what was looking like a couple of weeks, with thousands of people, many of them sick or blind. And the home on this side was the opposite of furnished.

It was a start, though, and Jack kept his smile firmly on as the Enkarans filed through, the first group containing mostly the relatively strong and fit who could get to work immediately before the sick came through in the second group. Each of them was carrying as much as he could handle over his or her back, some with enough food to last the day's evacuation and others with tools that they'd need to start rebuilding.

Despite the chill, by the time Daniel dragged the FRED back toward Jack, he was breathing hard and soaked as if he'd been working in the Abydos sun at noon. "Why don't we switch off," Jack suggested, reminding himself that Daniel, for all he was young enough to be more energetic than anyone should be allowed to be, was still going to be tired after playing pack mule for the last few days.

"Are you sure?" Daniel said, wiping his forehead.

"Yeah--you, Teal'c, and I can rotate doing grunt work while Carter supervises the construction. I'll go and bring the next FRED-full through," Jack insisted. "Take a load off."

"I'm not carrying any loads."

" _Sit_ ," Jack said, rolling his eyes. "Relax."

Daniel gave him that blank, innocent look that made Jack suspect he was being teased and dropped to the ground, stretching. "How long do we have in this one?" he asked, nodding toward the wormhole.

"Another...four and a half minutes," Jack said, looking at his watch. "Did Caleb's people just _start_ packing today?"

"Yeah, but they're the last group to come through," Daniel said, looking up at him. "We'll need time to set up a few shelters out there for them, anyway, so things should be set by the time they're ready to move." He grimaced and started to stand. "Speaking of which..."

"Stop," Jack ordered, pushing him back down with a hand on the head. "We're gonna need days, maybe weeks, to finish this. Pace yourself or you're gonna be useless at the end when we need everyone to work. Got it?"

"Fine," Daniel conceded. Eliam's pregnant wife came out next, though, and Daniel jumped up again when she looked distinctly nauseous from the 'gate trip.

Jack watched them make their way back to the village, and then the wormhole winked out of existence. He moved to the DHD to dial back again and returned to P4B-380, pulling the FRED along with him.

XXXXX

**_8 November 2000; Briefing Room, SGC; 1300 hrs_ **

"Operation Relocation is complete," Jack announced, just over two weeks later.

"All of the Enkarans have been moved?" Hammond said.

He hesitated, glancing around at the rest of his team. "There are a few who didn't make it," Carter answered. "Whatever's happening to that planet is accelerating, and the UV radiation is approaching half the intensity that we see here on Earth. Within a month, the Enkarans would might have been too sick to make the move, and months after that, P4B-380 will probably be dangerously uninhabitable, even for us."

Hammond nodded. "It's a good thing we were able to act so quickly, then."

Jack thought, all of a sudden, of the days he and Teal'c had wasted in that time loop. No one would notice, Daniel had said once; it wouldn't matter to the people in the loop. The problem was that there were people _outside_ the loop. Another couple of weeks of goofing off, and the Enkarans might not be there at all.

"Yes, sir," he said, fervently glad that that time of sameness and monotony and near-insanity was over now. "Good thing."

"They have only now begun to rebuild their society," Teal'c said. "They may require further aid and medical assistance in the coming days."

"I'm sure they will," the general agreed. "I'd like you to check in on them periodically until it seems like they can sustain themselves." He stood. "Job well done. Take the rest of the day--it's been a long couple of weeks."


	9. The Eye of Tiamat

**_12 November 2000; Briefing Room, SGC; 0630 hrs_ **

Dr. Rothman and Daniel were both in the briefing room when Jack arrived in answer to the summons. Since the two of them rarely took briefings together these days aside from planning meetings--it was an inefficient use of brainpower--Jack interpreted this as a bad sign.

"So, I'm in bed this morning," Jack said as he took his seat, waiting for the rest of his team to show up. "And I'm thinking it'll be a nice, _quiet_ morning, since a certain roommate of mine decided to stay on base for the weekend and isn't going to make a lot of noise bumbling around in the morning--"

"I don't bumble," Daniel retorted. "I _walk_ around, and I don't make a lot of noise."

"You bumble," Jack assured him. "Tripping over things and--"

"Tri--I don't trip over anyth--"

"You fell down half a staircase once."

"You left a sock at the top of the stairs, Jack, and it was dark!"

"Then you admit you were noisy," Jack said. Daniel rolled his eyes. "But since you weren't there this morning, imagine my surprise when, in the wee hours of--"

"Six...okay, four-thirty, five o'clock is not 'wee,' Jack," Daniel said. "Well, not _that_ wee."

"It's relative, Daniel. On a Sunday, five is _very_ wee."

"Well, technically, the general called you, not me, so..."

"Oh, my god," Rothman groaned. He dropped his head to the table and covered his head with his arms, mumbling " _shudp_ " into the table.

Daniel broke off and looked at the side of his boss's head. "I called and woke him up before you," he told Jack with chagrin. "Are we that...?"

"Annoying?" Jack said dismissively. "Nah."

"Oh. Because--"

"Why aren't you tired," Rothman said, emerging enough to speak coherently.

Daniel picked up his mug of coffee and inhaled deeply. "Mm," he said in answer.

All hours wee and large considered, Jack decided that Daniel was probably more saturated with caffeine than he needed to be and took the mug away. Jack needed it more at this point, anyway. "What were you doing still up at that time of night--morning?" he asked, sipping the warm liquid and pulling it out of reach of Daniel's hands.

"I got an e-mail," Daniel said more seriously, giving up on the coffee and sitting back down.

Jack's eyebrows shot up. "Gonna tell the rest of the class what it was?"

"We should wait for the rest of the class," Rothman said, sitting back up with a yawn.

"Good point," Jack admitted, but, luckily, Carter walked in then, with Teal'c right behind her. He was wondering whether this was actually something important or just about the evils of spam when he remembered that Daniel's e-mail account shouldn't be receiving much of anything from anyone outside this mountain, since he didn't exist to people without very high clearance. "Wait, _Daniel_ got an e-mail? Who sent it?"

"Maybourne," Rothman answered as Carter and Teal'c sat down.

Carter froze halfway down into her seat. Teal'c looked very interested, in the sense that he'd been wanting an excuse to dismember the man for years. Jack took a sip of coffee, just to make sure he was as awake as possible and not just hearing wrong, then said, "What?"

"Colonel Harry Maybourne," Daniel said, giving him a look as if to say, _'aren't you glad I woke you up?'_ "Well, we don't technically know that. It was just signed 'Harry,' but unless there's another Harry who knows me and would send us messages from a Nellis base address and offer information in exchange for...uh...what was it..."

"He wants a pardon or a reduced sentence," Rothman said. "I read over it just now."

"Oh, no way," Jack said.

"What information does he offer?" Teal'c said.

"'Gate coordinates, for one," Rothman said. "And information on a security threat."

"You opened the e-mail?" Carter demanded.

"Yes," Daniel said, avoiding her eyes. "And...and the attached files, too."

"Because we have not yet located Colonel Maybourne, he could have contacted anyone about the nature of Stargate Command," Teal'c said. "That may be the threat of which he speaks."

"Yeah, probably," Rothman said to Teal'c, "which is why he's got something to bargain with."

"What was the subject line?" Carter asked while Jack rubbed his eyes tiredly and tried to sort out who was answering whom in the two conversations going on around him.

"Um..." Daniel said to Carter, and then ducked his head. "It said...'SGC security--let's deal.'"

She gave him a wide-eyed look. Jack caught Daniel's embarrassed expression and said, "You saw that it was from a fugitive and had to do with making deals about SGC security, and instead of, oh, I don't know, calling security or tech, you opened the files on an _SGC_ computer and then called an _archaeologist_?"

"Hey," Rothman said.

"What, you're not an archaeologist?" Jack said to him.

"I didn't see the subject until after I'd opened it and realized something was wrong," Daniel said miserably. "It was late. Early. Well, late, as in wee--"

"This is what happens when you work half-asleep! You should've just gone home on Friday--"

"Oh, but then I would've been noisy, Jack!"

"Gentlemen!" General Hammond's voice barked. They shut up and stood along with Carter. Teal'c raised an eyebrow at them, and Rothman slouched into his seat with a yawn. "We have enough problems right now without making new ones. Sit down," he ordered, and they plopped quickly into their chairs. "Mr. Jackson, we haven't found any problems on your computer so far, but you need to pay attention before opening those kinds of files in the future. As it is, your data is now being backed up, and the system will be wiped and completely reformatted to make sure he didn't plant anything there. You should regain access to your data in a couple of days."

"Yes, sir," Daniel said, chastised.

"We don't know where he sent it from?" Carter said.

"No, Major," the general said. "I'd like you to look over that once we're done here, just in case he left something to be traced."

"Okay, no offense to anyone," Jack said, leaning forward, "but I'll ask again--why did Daniel call the archaeologist first?"

"The attachment I opened was a picture of a tablet written in cuneiform," Daniel said.

"Wait," Carter said, "so Daniel got a cuneiform message and Dr. Rothman didn't?"

"He called to see if I'd gotten it, too," Rothman said, "which I hadn't. Which sort of makes sense, since I've never had personal dealings with Maybourne, but it also means that this wasn't a general probe for SGC information. He was targeting Daniel, and possibly the rest of you."

"Right, we think all of you"--Daniel waved his hand to encompass the rest of the team--"would have gotten it, too, once you checked your e-mail. Just...not quite as early in the morning. The message was addressed to SG-1."

"He must have figured that by the time any of us opened it," Carter said, "he'd have had time to get away from the computer he was using so we couldn't trace his physical location, but Daniel was here overnight. Sir--"

"Even with the early alarm," Hammond said, "Colonel Maybourne still has a few hours' head start on us. Our specialists eventually found an IP address that led to a second-hand laptop computer purchased under what we suspect was a pseudonym, which was found in a dumpster halfway across the world. By the time we had that, he was long gone. He might not even be in the same country anymore."

Jack's eyebrows rose. "So he's sending vaguely threatening messages and thinks we're going to be so pleased about it that we'll help him?"

"What exactly did it say?" Carter asked. "The tablet in cuneiform, I mean. I assume that's another reason why Daniel called Dr. Rothman."

"Yeah, he's not great at cuneiform," Rothman explained. Daniel looked like he wanted to be offended but didn't argue, so it was probably true. "But I'm not an expert, either. I'm still working on it, but the tablet talks about...well. It's something to do with Marduk, a Babylonian god, who is sometimes also known as Belus. Or Bel-Marduk--you know, that kind of thing."

Jack glanced quickly around at his team to make sure he wasn't the only one for whom those names didn't ring a bell, but Daniel narrowed his eyes and said, "Belus. Isn't that, uh...we've read about Belus. From one of your very early missions," he added to Jack. "P3X...866, I think."

"Right, the Oannes text," Rothman said. "As far as we could tell, Belus--or Marduk--was a Goa'uld. It's likely that he was on Earth, in Babylon, at some point before the Giza rebellion. Marduk killed a bunch of alien beings who came to try to free Earth from the Goa'uld."

"They were unsuccessful, obviously, but they tried, and possibly planted the seeds of later rebellions," Daniel added. "Omoroca, the winged serpent, seemed to have been the leader. She got cut in half by Marduk, and he used bits of her to form the parts of the world."

"Ew," Jack said.

"Or so the myth goes," Rothman said. "Omoroca is also known as Tiamat, and these tablets say that the eye of Tiamat endowed Marduk with great magical abilities."

"Her eye?" Carter said doubtfully.

"Probably not literally a biological eye," Rothman said.

"It could be a Goa'uld weapon," Teal'c suggested.

"The tablets also give Stargate coordinates," Daniel added, sliding a photograph across the table to Carter. Jack and Teal'c looked on from either side of her.

"And if the message was addressed to SG-1," Carter added, "we can assume Maybourne thinks this is something worth commuting his sentence, and he wants SG-1 to check it out."

"Furthermore, this is the Tau'ri point of origin," Teal'c said, pointing to the last glyph scratched into the tablet. "This is not only a Stargate address; it is a Stargate address that was meant to be used from Earth."

"Wait..." Jack said.

"Yeah," Rothman said. "We think this means the tablet was found on Earth. But something like this...it's a piece of the creation myth that I've never seen anywhere else, not to mention the Stargate glyphs. This should've made waves. If it had been published, someone here would have picked up on it. _I_ would've picked up on it."

"' _If_ it had been published,'" Carter echoed. "Meaning that it never was. Someone somehow recognized the significance of those glyphs and got it classified."

Daniel nodded. "We think this is what Maybourne meant when he said there was a security issue. Someone knows about the Stargate--enough to have picked out a tablet from an archaeological project and made sure no one found out about it."

"So this is just Maybourne's proof that he's not full of BS," Jack said. "He knows someone who knows _something_ and wants to help us shut them down in exchange for lowering his sentence."

Carter made a face. "With a possible security breach, we have no choice but to contact him. He could be anywhere in the world right now. If another government or organization is keeping this as a secret to hold over our heads, we might never find out on our own."

"I'm going to have people start trying to figure this out ourselves before he contacts us again," Hammond said. "In the meantime, Dr. Rothman, I want you to finish the translation of that tablet. We've also found the address in the Abydos cartouche data. As soon as we've recalculated the coordinates, if the MALP telemetry looks reasonable, I'll send SG-1 to take a look around."

"What about me?" Rothman said. "Daniel's not an expert in this area."

"Neither are you," Daniel said. "And it could be a Goa'uld planet."

"Uh...yeah," Rothman said. "Is that supposed to be an argument _for_ your going?"

Daniel straightened in his seat, bristling a little, and Jack could see this gearing up to turn into yet another argument with Dr. Rothman about what Daniel should or shouldn't be allowed to do. Before he could speak up to stop them, though, Hammond stepped in.

"I want SG-1 to report back soon after arriving, anyway," the general said. "Mr. Jackson will do the initial assessment, and we'll decide afterward whether further exploration or archaeological expertise is warranted."

XXXXX

**_12 November 2000; P2X-338; 1630 hrs_ **

"Oh, wow," Daniel said, his eyes widening. "A ziggurat! I've never seen a real ziggurat before."

"Everyone watch your backs," Jack warned, because the MALP sensors said the place looked deserted and Teal'c didn't see any tracks or traces of life, but Jack trusted Maybourne about as far as he could throw him and MALPs' data about as far as he could shove _them_. "You know where the entrance might be?"

"Uh...the shrine will be at the top," Daniel said, shading his eyes and peering up the long path of stairs. "It's only open up there, if this is anything like ones on Earth."

"At the top," Jack repeated, leading the way up the staircase. "Of course it is."

By the time they reached the top, it had become clear that they couldn't stay too long. Even Daniel, who normally liked hot, dry weather, was looking uncomfortable in the heat.

"This appears to be the entrance," Teal'c finally said, looking at a solid wall.

"Then how does one enter?" Jack asked, since it didn't seem to open.

"Maybe there's a switch to open it," Carter said, moving closer to look with Daniel right behind her. "Can you read this?" she asked him, pointing at the wall.

Daniel stared for a few moments, then admitted, "Not in the time we have before check-in. If I had some references and some time--a lot of time--maybe I could, but..."

"Is this cuneiform?" she said, wrinkling her brow. "It doesn't look like it to me."

"It is," Daniel said, reaching out to trace the carved writing with his fingers. "What we call cuneiform didn't start looking wedge-shaped--you know, 'cuneiform'--until later. This is very pictographic, suggesting it's older than what we were looking at on base. Later civilizations tended to use increasingly abstract or phonological units, which is probably what you're--"

"Can you read it?" Jack interrupted. "Or can either of you get it open?"

"I'll look for a mechanism," Carter said, bending to examine the bottom of the door. Daniel tapped the bricks one more time and started to turn away, but then he stopped.

"What?" Jack said. Teal'c turned from where he'd been standing guard as well.

"Sam," Daniel said sharply, ignoring Jack. She looked up. "They push in."

Taking a few steps closer, Jack saw what Daniel meant: the brick he'd been touching had sunken slightly into the wall. "Should you be doing that?" Jack said.

"I have no idea," Daniel said, looking like he wasn't sure whether he should take his hand off the depressed brick.

Carter leaned forward and tapped another. "These are the same--each one is like a button."

"Whoa," Daniel said, snatching his hand away. "It just popped back out."

"Timed?" she mused, watching until her own stone retracted back into place as well. "Maybe it's like a combination lock. We have to push the right ones to make the door open."

"There appear to be many possible combinations," Teal'c said.

"There's an understatement," Jack muttered, eyeing what had to be over a hundred bricks that formed the wall. Added to the fact that they had no idea what order to go in or which ones to push, they didn't even know how many were in the combination. The possibilities were infinite.

"Let me get some of this on film for Robert to see a sample," Daniel said, "or we could have him come back with us. Whatever is written on it has got to be a clue of some sort, and it'll be faster than waiting for me to try to figure it out on my own."

"Carter, you and Daniel get what you can here," Jack ordered, heading for the stairs. "Teal'c, let's take a look around and make sure this world is as abandoned as it seems."

XXXXX

  ** _13 November 2000; P2X-338; 1030 hrs_**

The general let them return the day after with SG-11 and a load of reference books, which was good, because Daniel was pretty sure he had no chance of translating and opening that ziggurat wall by himself before they died of heat sickness.

"Did you figure out that word yet?" Robert said, working near the top of the wall while Daniel started closer to the bottom.

"No. Yes," Daniel said, crouching to see his section. "Well...no?"

"Daniel..."

"I don't know, Robert. Destiny? It doesn't make sense. How do you create a destiny?"

"Well, if this is before the universe, then..." Robert trailed off. "There's a line like that in the creation story. This is before the universe. Marduk and Tiamat's guy--what's his name..."

"Kingu, in the myths."

"Right, they're fighting for the right to shape the universe. Let's see if we're right--look down lower and see if you can find the whole...you know, winged serpent, cutting in half, earth, sky..."

"Right, and...okay," Daniel said, moving a little further down.

The crunch of Jack's boots came closer. "How's it going, guys?" Jack said, sounding impatient and blocking the light.

"Could you...hold on, Jack," Daniel said, raising his flashlight pointedly until Jack moved away, taking his shadow with him.

"Marduk gets the winds up here," Robert said.

"Here's a sign for deity," Daniel said, halfway to lying down now to see the bottom of the door. "More than one. The meeting of the gods?"

"That must be the part where they decide Marduk becomes...well, a System Lord, I guess, but only after he defeats Tiamat."

"Here!" Daniel said, sprawled in the dust by now. "Marduk splits the winged serpent in two...and her heart...and her belly...and her, uh...what is that?"

"I think that's 'entrails' of some sort," Robert said.

"...and her--"

"We get the idea--she's dead," Major Hawkins said. Daniel looked up to see both SG-1 and SG-11 had gathered a little closer, watching them.

Daniel skimmed past the detailed disembowelment of Tiamat and continued, "Uh...half is a roof for the heavens...and her...I think that's 'eyes'..." He stopped, confused. The next part didn't make any sense.

Robert was looking down at him expectantly. "...are the source of the rivers?" he finished, because that was what the myth said. "Hey, you think that's what was important about the eye of Tiamat? Rivers often represent power, so--"

"No," Daniel said, backtracking and still not understanding how such an important part could have been lost.

"No, you don't think it's metaphorical?"

"No, it's not--there's nothing...no river. No water sign, nothing."

"But that's how it goes," Robert said. "The Tigris and Euphrates flow from her eyes--"

"No--"

" _Yes_."

"No, it's not here," Daniel clarified. "He cuts the serpent and uses half to form the sky, and her eyes... That's where it stops."

Daniel moved his flashlight back but still couldn't find the missing piece or, if nothing else, something to tell him why a piece was missing at all. Robert frowned, taking a step back and saying, "What kind of creation story talks about the sky being formed and forgets about the ground and...rivers and people--whoa."

"What?" Daniel said, pushing himself to his feet to see.

"I think Tiamat's skull is being crushed here," Robert said, tapping a section above his head.

Daniel squinted at it. "But...he doesn't even fight her until a lot further down on the wall. How can he crush her skull before they go into battle?"

"This doesn't make any sense," Robert said, frustrated. "It says Marduk was given the four winds...and then all of a sudden, Tiamat's skull is being crushed."

"It's...out of order," Daniel said, the answer clicking into place. He grinned. "It's out of order!"

"Yeah," Robert said, still scowling.

"No, Robert--that's it! There are pieces that are in the wrong place. Teal'c, a High Priest or other high-ranking Jaffa would be able to read, right?"

From behind them, Teal'c said, "That is likely. Only they would be able to read this wall and know which sections were in the wrong place."

"Okay, let's start looking," Robert said, turning and holding a finger on that brick as he and Daniel moved to opposite sides to look for other parts that looked out of sequence. "Um...here--the eyes and the rivers and her ribs and all of that--that's up here."

"And here's one," Daniel said, off to the side. "Tiamat creates the monsters, and suddenly the blood of Kingu is being used to create people."

"Where else," Robert murmured, scanning the wall.

"Maybe that's it, Doc--just try those," Lieutenant Sanchez said when they couldn't find anything else minutes later.

With a shrug, Robert pushed in the two blocks within reach while Daniel pressed the other. Nothing happened. "Maybe we missed one," Daniel said.

"Do they have to be pressed in order?" Sam suggested.

"Maybe, but what order?" Robert said. "Oh--chronological according to the story. So first it's the...the skull-crushing"--he waited for all three blocks to jump back out as normal, then depressed that one--"then the eyeball-piercing...then killing the guy and draining his blood..." Daniel pushed that block in.

"Geez--this is one bloody fairytale," Jack commented.

"It's not a fairytale, Jack," Daniel started--

Stone ground against stone. The wall began to rise. Daniel stopped talking and ducked as several guns swung in his general direction from behind, but he peered around the edge of the entrance, squinting to follow their flashlights as rubble crashed inside from the vibrations alone.

"God," Robert said, wincing as each rock fell. Daniel raised his own flashlight, adding to the beams of light illuminating the dark interior.

"Looks clear," Jack finally said when silence fell again.

"Hah," Daniel said, pointing triumphantly into the open ziggurat.

"We did it," Robert said smugly.

...x...

**_13 November 2000; Temple of Marduk, P2X-338; 1330 hrs_ **

"This place doesn't look too stable," Sam commended worriedly as they carefully stepped in.

"Well, it's probably over four thousand years old," Robert pointed out.

"Do you think anyone's still alive in here?" Daniel asked, looking up in interest at the ceiling. "If Marduk was a Goa'uld, four thousand years isn't very long." He walked into Captain Hatley's back. "Ow--sorry, Captain. Are we stopping?" he asked as he rubbed his nose, half-blind between the dark and the close quarters.

Everyone else had stopped, too. "There might be a living Goa'uld in here?" Sergeant Loder asked, a little more quietly.

"Dr. Rothman?" Hawkins said, just as quietly.

"Uh," Robert said.

"Oy..." Jack breathed. "Daniel?"

"Well, how should we know?" Daniel said. "But this seems like a terrible place for a Goa'uld to choose to spend four thousand years."

"Oh, well, there you go," Robert said. "Did you see the way the door opened?"

"Like it had a few parts that needed oiling?" Sanchez said.

"Sure. I'll bet it hasn't been used in a long time. There's no way a healthy Goa'uld System Lord would stay in here all that time when he could be out...you know, conquering stuff instead."

"But Marduk was no longer a System Lord, Dr. Rothman," Teal'c said. "He had been severely punished in the past by Ra himself for various mistakes."

"Eh," Jack said, making the decision for all of them and continuing to march on. "There are better places to hide from Ra than inside a stinky old pyramid."

"Ziggurat," Daniel sighed.

"It's pretty stinky, though," Robert conceded.

They reached a fork, one passageway leading off to the left and another to the right. "We don't actually know what we're looking for?" Jack said.

"An eye," Daniel offered.

"Not a real one," Robert added. "Probably."

"Great," Jack said. "Hawkins, take your team that way; we'll go the other way. Keep the channel open, and watch out for Goa'ulds and falling rocks."

Daniel waved to Robert as the five men of SG-11 took the left passageway, then followed his own team down the other. "This is... Isn't this amazing?" he said, imagining the secrets waiting to be discovered in here. There was a code to get in; who was to say there wasn't something like that elsewhere? He stepped closer to one of the walls and pressed on one of the bricks at random--to no effect--until Sam, behind him, gently prodded him onward.

"Yes," Jack drawled in a tone that meant ' _no_.' "I've always wanted to be a grave robber."

"We're not..." Daniel started, and then reconsidered. "Well, I suppose we _are_ trying to rob in this case. But..."

"We are attempting to steal from a Goa'uld," Teal'c said.

"Yes, thank you," Daniel said.

"Ah. So we're just Goa'uld-grave robbers," Jack said.

"I'm morally okay with that, sir," Sam said.

"Besides, Mesopotamian ziggurats were thought to be the house of the gods," Daniel said. "Not quite like the Egyptian pyramids--the human-built ones--which were mostly built as tombs for pharaohs. So we're trying to rob a...a temple of sorts, not a grave."

"Temple-robbing," Jack said. "Much better."

"Fewer bodies," Daniel offered.

"That's something."

Their radios crackled suddenly to life. _"Colonel, this is Hawkins."_

Jack stopped, reaching up to his radio. "Go ahead, Major."

_"Sir, we've found a sarcophagus."_

Daniel's eyebrows shot up. He could hear Sam's weapon shifting in her hands behind him as Teal'c turned, looking back the way they came. Immediately, Jack said, "Hold your position 'til we get there." To the rest of them, he added, "Fall back."

_"Yes, sir,"_ Hawkins said.

"Why does there have to be a sarcophagus in here?" Jack said as they made their way carefully around crumbling stone.

"House of the gods?" Daniel said. "Maybe Marduk's living in it." Sam glanced at him sharply. "Or--no, I mean, he might not be," he added.

"A Goa'uld could have been kept alive indefinitely using a sarcophagus," Teal'c said.

"'Fewer bodies' my ass," Jack muttered.

With that optimistic thought in mind, they stepped into a large chamber where SG-11 stood a safe distance away from what was unmistakably a sarcophagus. Robert was a little farther off, looking at the cuneiform writing on a nearby column.

"Okay," Jack said, sounding a little reluctant. "We should check and see if anyone's home."

"Ziggurats were said to be the dwelling place of the gods," Robert put in.

"So we've heard," Jack said sourly. "Carter, open it up. If anything comes out of that thing, shoot first."

He glanced at Daniel, as if expecting an argument. In answer, Daniel pulled his weapon and thumbed off the safety. Whatever was in there--Goa'uld or host or innocent human--he doubted it would survive the withdrawal from four thousand years of continual sarcophagus addiction, and if it was a Goa'uld, he had no problem with killing it.

"I don't see any buttons or crystals, sir," Sam said as she examined the side. "And...this is strange. It looks almost like it was welded shut, from the outside--" She stopped suddenly.

"What?" Hawkins said, shifting impatiently.

"I think I sense..." She frowned, touching the sarcophagus lightly. "Huh."

"You 'sense'--you mean a symbiote?" Daniel said, alarmed. "Like...naquadah?"

Sam looked at them worriedly. "Possibly."

"Teal'c, Daniel," Jack said tensely.

As the two of them moved to join her, Robert pointed out, "Aren't sarcophagi _made_ of naquadah? That could be what you're sensing."

"The one I studied on base was laced with naquadah," Sam said, "but not in anywhere near as high a concentration as a Goa'uld symbiote or a Goa'ulded host. That I can sense it at all against the background of the sarcophagus..."

"I believe sense a faint presence within as well," Teal'c said.

"I don't," Daniel said. "But I don't have nearly as much naquadah in my blood as either of you." There was that faint, almost unnoticeable tingling that he would have called nothing more than nervousness from the dark, crumbling structure around them if he hadn't known better, but nothing specific to tell him there was anything more than a naquadah-based device. He moved to Sam's other side, vaguely aware of the rest of the men moving in closer around them so they'd be more easily able to fire if there _was_ a living Goa'uld inside, and made his way down the length of the sarcophagus. "There might be a crystal at the other end," he said.

He'd just set his foot down on a step when a rumbling sound made him freeze.

"What--" Robert started.

"Is that the door?" Loder said. A rock crashed to the ground feet from where he stood. "Holy--!"

"Move!" Jack barked. "Back the way we came--go!"

Daniel backed off and found himself pulled by one arm and shoved roughly in the direction of the exit. A loose rock tumbled to the ground in front of him, and he flinched, running past as quickly as he could. Teal'c was in front of him, but he couldn't distinguish anyone else as running forms surrounded him, even with occasional flickers from someone's flashlight.

"This way!" Hawkins called, in the lead.

Another rock. Daniel stopped trying to figure out where they were and concentrated on following the mass of sprinting people and hoping fervently that the next rock wouldn't bring the entire shrine down on them. Then he remembered the pictures of ziggurats on Earth, which existed mostly in crumbling pieces, even without having door scraping open and closed all the time...

Never mind. Best not to think about that while running out of a ziggurat.

"The door is closing, O'Neill!" Teal'c shouted. Light was filtering in from the outside, and Daniel could see the opening beginning to narrow again. Through the bodies around him, he glimpsed Teal'c moving toward the doorway, hefting a sizeable chunk of rock and fitting it into the closing gap.

"Get out of there, Teal'c!" Jack yelled. "That's an order--get back here!"

Teal'c glanced upward, then threw himself out of the way. Daniel had enough time to see the rock get pulverized between the doors as they closed before a shower of stones rained from the ceiling. Teal'c rolled back farther toward the group just in time to avoid being crushed as the entrance was buried entirely.

Flashlights danced around the darkened passageway. "Everyone all right?" Jack said, sounding hoarse from the dust when things seemed to have settled for the moment. "Teal'c?"

"I am fine," Teal'c said, picking himself up.

Daniel leaned back against a wall, watching as Jack's eyes hopped from Teal'c to Sam to Daniel. "SG-11's all here," Hawkins said.

"SG-1, too," Jack answered. "No way to get to the door? Can we dig out?"

"Not easily, sir," Sam said. "And I don't think we should test the structural integrity of this place anymore unless we have to."

Jack stared at the pile of rubble for a moment. "Fine," he said at last in irritation. "Back to the sarcophagus room. We'll take inventory there."

...x...

"I told you not to touch anything," Jack snapped.

"Yeah," Daniel said, still feeling partly in shock from the understanding that they were trapped. Then, thinking back on it, he said, "Wait...no you didn't."

"Then it's a standing order from now on!"

Which was ridiculous, and they both knew he couldn't follow that. "Jack, I don't even know what I did!"

"Must've been booby trapped," Robert said, sounding just as shaken.

"You probably set it off stepping up here," Sam said, examining the ground near the base of the sarcophagus. She stomped a foot hard on the stair to no effect. "Looks like this was pressure sensitive, but apparently irreversible."

"I did step on the stair," Daniel admitted. Part of him wanted to say that it was a _stair_ , and how should he have known it was a trap, but it _was_ still his fault and he didn't want to whine. Jack exhaled sharply in frustration. "I'm sorry," Daniel said.

"Any of us could've triggered it," Sam said fairly. "I was a step away myself."

Jack gave Daniel one last glare, then walked up to the sarcophagus himself to give it a few knocks with his fist. "Hawkins, check our supplies. Teal'c, you and Carter take a good look at the sarcophagus and see if we can get it open or if we _want_ to get it open. Captain Hatley, take Sanchez and Loder and go do some exploring--watch your step and don't split up. Dr. Rothman, Daniel, see if that writing over there says anything about a back door."

"Nothing in this part," Robert said, pointing to the section he'd been looking at before. "This is about the final fate of Marduk. His own priests sealed him in his sarcophagus with...something."

"Something?" Jack repeated. Daniel forced himself to stop sulking about trapping everyone in a four thousand year old ziggurat and moved toward the wall. He didn't recognize the word, either, though, so he unclipped his pack and handed a textbook to Robert.

As he paged through, Robert said, "Well, apparently, the priests didn't like him very much, so whatever they sealed him in with can't be anything good."

"I think it's a creature of some sort," Daniel said, joining him.

"Probably," Robert said a moment later, "but I don't have a direct translation for what it is. It could be something we've never even heard of on Earth. I think it says...well, this is 'mouth,' or 'eat,' so...I think the thing ate him?"

Sam straightened from her perusal of the sarcophagus and turned around. " _Ate_ him?"

Horror flowed over Daniel as Jack said, "But the sarcophagus keeps you alive..."

"Like Prometheus," Robert said. "He gets his liver eaten out, and then it grows back and gets eaten out again, and again..."

"Aw, Doc," Hawkins groaned.

"So...there's a Goa'uld being eaten to death and healed...right now? Right here?" Sam said. She pointed at the sarcophagus, inching away from it even as she spoke. "There are limits to a sarcophagus, though--Marduk might have died eventually..."

"We'd hear...you know...screaming, right?" Robert said.

"It probably depends on how fast the thing was eating him, or where it started," Daniel said, gesturing to his vocal tract. Flesh _did_ grow back on its own; he supposed the creature could have eaten just enough to keep itself satiated and the Goa'uld incapacitated and quiet but still alive enough for the sarcophagus to heal him and provide more food.

"Aw, Daniel," Jack said, looking disgusted. "Okay, that's _officially_ the worst way to go."

As sometimes happened to him, the image of a Goa'uld being eaten slowly, starting at the larynx, entered Daniel's mind only after he'd said it, and he willed himself not to feel sick at the thought. "It might still be alive, then?" he asked. "Can we zat it?"

Sam glanced at him, then told Jack, "The electricity might burn out the device and stop the sarcophagus from healing him. The inner layer of the sarcophagus might shield Marduk from the zat, but at least he won't be revived anymore. That'd be a mercy at this point."

"A Goa'uld such as Marduk does not deserve mercy, Major Carter," Teal'c said.

Daniel was pretty sure there was no way to atone for what someone like Marduk had done over millennia, but being eaten alive constantly for eternity wasn't his idea of a fitting punishment, either. Before he could say anything, though, Jack said, "Any chance zatting it'll set off some other trap?"

"I doubt it, sir," Sam said. "But I can look around to make sure."

"You do that, Major," he told her. "If it looks clean, then we'll zat it, but that doesn't solve our problem of getting out, so...?"

"Right," Daniel said shining his flashlight around the room to see where the writing seemed most likely to be useful.

"You start over there," Robert said, steering him toward a thick pillar wrapped around with writing. "I'll start here."

"We've got extra batteries, but don't use your flashlights more than you have to, or we might get stuck in the dark," Jack warned everyone. "When you're in this room, only Daniel and Rothman use lights--and Carter for now, until we figure out the sarcophagus. Everyone else walk close to them if you need to see something." He moved away toward the SG-11 leader to see what supplies they had between them.

Daniel scanned the pillar, hoping he'd see something easy--like ' _door_ ' or ' _exit_ ' and ' _that way_ '--but knowing even before he failed at that that it was unlikely to be so simple.

"Any luck?" Sam asked him as she examined the sarcophagus from beside him.

"Uh," Daniel said, struggling to remember what the next sign might mean, much less put it together with the previous ones. "I'm not very good at cuneiform," he admitted to her. "Yet. I mean, I've been learning, but...it's slow."

"Well, we brought few days' worth of water," she said in a tone that he thought was meant to be encouraging. Daniel sighed. "It's not your fault," she said quietly. "If worse comes to worst, we can try to brute force our way out."

He winced at the image of setting C-4 around the crumbling foundations. He wasn't keen on having their crushed bodies join that of the Goa'uld being devoured. Then he imagined the Goa'uld being devoured again and quickly focused back on the wall. "Eye," he said, pointing at the symbol, then shook his head. "That doesn't make sense... Wait."

"What?" Sam said.

"Robert, isn't this ' _eye_?'" Daniel said. "This says there was an eye buried with Marduk, and this is the sign for...serpent...Tiamat?"

"Yeah, that's Tiamat," Robert said, examining it with him. "That's the winged serpent. Guys, the Eye of Tiamat must be sealed inside the sarcophagus with Marduk."

"The Eye of Tiamat...is the creature eating Marduk?" Sam said. Daniel imagined an eyeball with teeth and then wished he hadn't.

"No, it's a different word, isn't it?" Daniel said, comparing the two sections. "Maybe the creature is guarding the Eye of Tiamat as _well_ as eating Marduk."

He looked back at Sam to see what she thought. "It's possible," she conceded, looking wary. "Except that it means we'd need to open that sarcophagus..."

"No," Jack ordered, returning toward them. "No one opens the sarcophagus and lets out a flesh-eating whatever until we have a way out. Come on, back to work. Carter?"

"Doesn't look like there's anything to be tripped, sir."

"Teal'c," Jack said, holding out his hand, "give me your zat."

Daniel heard it being handed over, concentrated on what he was trying to read, and tried not to think about the fact that being eaten alive just one more time was the best mercy they were hoping to offer a man.

...x...

**_13 November 2000; Temple of Marduk, P2X-338; 2300 hrs_ **

"Go to sleep," Jack said, tapping him on the shoulder.

"We've got a long way to go," Daniel said, not looking away from the wall where he was standing. A glance to the side showed that Robert was still working, too, though Hawkins was making his way toward the archaeologist.

"And you can't do it by never sleeping," Jack said. "Finish tomorrow."

"I'm not sure we _can_ finish by tomorrow, Jack."

"Then you'll finish the day after. We've got enough water for about five days--maybe a little more than that if we stretch it. At this point, you're losing efficiency trying to stay awake."

Robert was waving Hawkins away. Hawkins rolled his eyes and didn't relent. The other three members of SG-11 were setting out bedrolls while Sam and Teal'c did the same a short distance away. "Did Hatley, Sanchez, and Loder find anything?" Daniel said quietly. "Another exit?"

"Nope," Jack said. "But who knows. Hawkins and I got some sleep during the day; we're about to take a look around this place to see if we notice anything they missed. And then Carter and Teal'c will do the same in the morning. But that's tomorrow--time for bed."

Daniel looked toward Robert again and met the man's eyes. Robert shrugged and switched off his flashlight, following Hawkins back to the clump where SG-11 was staying. "Okay," Daniel agreed reluctantly. "Jack, there might not be anything. It's possible--"

"Teal'c thinks there's gotta be a back entrance," Jack interrupted, walking toward Sam and Teal'c as he spoke so Daniel had no chance but to follow. "And remember Seth last year? You guys knew there had to be a back entrance. It's a Goa'uld thing. We just have to find it, that's all."

"And if we don't find anything before we die of thirst?" Daniel said, and then, "Teal'c can go over a week without drinking in deep _kelno'reem_ , did you know that?" Jack gave him an odd look. "Which is not of any use to us now," he added. "I was just reminded of it."

"Carter," Jack said instead of answering directly, "do we have the necessary explosives to blast our way out of here?"

"Almost certainly, sir," Sam said, sitting with a blanket--it was much cooler inside the temple than outside, to the point of being cold. "I wouldn't recommend it except as a last option, though--it might bring the walls down."

"See?" Jack said. "We've got a way out."

"Uh-huh," Daniel said, not finding that quite as comforting as Jack seemed to. "What about the Eye of Tiamat?"

"We should find a way out of here first, in case we end up needing to get away quickly from whatever's inside the sarcophagus," Sam said. "We can try laying some C-4 along the welding--just enough to blast it open but not enough to cause a real tremor."

"We may also be able to break the sarcophagus open by force alone," Teal'c added, eyeing some of the larger fallen rocks speculatively.

"Or we can get out of here, go back to the SGC for supplies, and come back with the proper cutting tools," Sam said.

"Okay--point taken," Daniel said, clearing away a few pebbles from an area of floor and taking time only to take off his vest before lying down, too tired to pull out his own blanket.

"Goodnight, kids," Jack said, then waved a hand at the other group, calling, "Hawkins! Let's go take a walk."

"I will take the first watch," Teal'c said.

"I'll take second," Sam said.

"Then I guess I'm third," Daniel said. There wasn't much to guard against when they were trapped in here alone, but there _was_ a Goa'uld who was being eaten to death for the last time by some unknown monster only a few paces away.

"No watch for you, Daniel," Sam said. "We need you and Dr. Rothman to be working on translation as much as possible while you're awake. You sleep--I'll wake Lieutenant Sanchez when I'm done with my shift."

Despite that, however, Daniel discovered later that he'd inched close to Sam for warmth during the night and stirred when Teal'c shook her awake for her watch.

"Go back to sleep," she whispered to him, tossing her blanket over him. Only the very outline of her body was visible by light of the flare they'd left for a bit of light.

Instead, he looked around to see SG-11 all sleeping while Teal'c was settling into _kelno'reem_ and whispered back, "What do you think is going on with Maybourne?"

He couldn't see her face in the dark, but he saw her shrug. "Honestly, I have no idea. If I were on the run from death row and no one knew where I was, I'd _stay_ on the run and offer information as a trade only if someone caught me."

"Yeah, it's backwards," Daniel said. "Maybe he's afraid someone's going to turn him in, and then that information won't be secret and his to trade for freedom anymore."

"Maybe," she agreed. "But we're a field team, Daniel--while we're off-world, our first priority is to deal with problems off-world. We've got people on base who can worry about Maybourne for now. Okay?"

"Okay," Daniel sighed, then rolled back toward Teal'c, the other source of heat while Sam was walking around, and tried to fall sleep. Some time later, footsteps heralded Jack and Major Hawkins' return, and Jack's form sandwiched him in from the other side.

...x...

**_14 November 2000; Temple of Marduk, P2X-338; 1200 hrs_ **

"I think I found something," Robert said.

Daniel abandoned the section he'd been trying to read and joined Robert on the other side of the room. "This?" he said. "God: that's Marduk. Marduk...exit--"

"Enter," Robert said.

"I don't think so," Daniel said, reaching for one of the dictionaries.

"No, look," Robert said. "He exits this temple and enters another one a few...I have no idea what that length unit is. Another temple. And he's riding a beam of light."

"Rings," Daniel realized.

"Got something?" Jack's voice said from behind them.

"A god coming and going by beam of light," Daniel said, dropping to hands and knees on the floor. "That sounds like Goa'uld rings."

"What...are you doing?" Robert asked, nudging him with a foot.

"Stop kicking me." Daniel batted the foot away and continued brushing dirt from the floor. "If there are rings, we have to find the platform. It's probably covered in four thousand years of dust."

"Let's start looking," Jack ordered. "You three, start right here and make your way toward those walls. Loder, take Rothman and start from the other side of the sarcophagus. Teal'c, Carter, find the control panel." Jack himself dropped to his knees next to Daniel and started sweeping the ground with his jacket. Following his lead, Daniel pulled off his jacket as well and continued clearing the floor.

With all of them working together, it wasn't long before Hawkins called, "I got something. Looks like...yeah, this is a ring platform, all right."

"Nice work, Major," Jack said. Daniel brushed off his hands as he stood and followed the others toward the partially-revealed rings under the soil. Sometimes it was a good thing that the Goa'uld were paranoid as well as fond of god-like displays, like exiting a temple on beams of light.

"Well, now we know there's a way out," Daniel said when they'd finished brushing the rest of the dust away.

"Move away from the platform," Teal'c said suddenly. Daniel scrambled back, and a series of rings shot up from the ground before falling back into place amidst the familiar beam of light. "It is still functional."

"Sir, should I try to get the sarcophagus open before get out of here?" Sam said.

"Get that started," Jack said. Sam began pressing a line of C-4 along the welding in the sarcophagus. "All right. Once she sets the detonator, everyone but Teal'c get to the rings, weapons ready. Teal'c, anything goes wrong--and I mean collapsing buildings or flesh-eating monsters--you hit the controls and get over here, and we bail."

"But Jack," Daniel said, even as he put his dusty jacket back on and shouldered his pack, "we can't just leave. What about the Eye?"

"No one's being eaten alive on my watch," Jack snapped, racking his weapon and holding it out of the way until Sam finished with the detonator. "That's an order, Daniel. Stay down. Weapon at instant. We're crowded on this platform--everyone make sure you have a clear line to the target."

"What's the target?" Robert said, crouching next to Daniel, below the line of fire of the men standing behind them.

"Anything that moves once that sarcophagus opens, Doc," Hawkins said.

Daniel pulled his pistol from its holster. "Robert," he prompted. Robert glanced over, saw the drawn sidearm, and followed suit.

"Anything inside might be dead already," Sam said as she worked, "but we can't be sure. All right, almost done...and...ten," she said, running back to the ring platform. "Niner..."

Daniel heard guns moving into position behind him and raised his handgun as several flashlights focused near the sarcophagus. He reached back for his own light and held it in line with his gun. "Hey," he said as a thought struck him, "if the thing ate Marduk's host, how do we know Marduk won't just take the thing that ate him as a host, too?"

Sam faltered in her countdown, then continued, "...five..."

"Don't care," Jack said. "Keep shooting it until it stops moving."

"...two...one _\--_ "

Daniel turned his head away for a second and only heard the explosion. And then he turned back around to see something long and thin reaching its way out of a smoking hole at the top of the sarcophagus.

He took aim quickly and fired. Several others did, too, so he didn't know whose bullet had hit, but someone's must have--a loud squeal sounded, and the appendage retreated into the box.

"I, uh, think it's still alive," Robert said.

"What the hell is that thing?" someone else said.

"Are we going to cave in?" Jack said tensely.

Daniel didn't dare look away from the sarcophagus, where there was a wounded something and possibly a half-eaten human and a Goa'uld weapon inside, so he only heard Sam's voice as she said, "I don't feel any tremors, sir."

"What are we doing about the...the Goa'ulded, flesh-eating monster?" Daniel said.

"Maybe it's dead now," Robert said.

"SG-1, with me," Jack said. "Daniel, get the Eye. SG-11, cover us." He and Sam stepped off the platform. Daniel waited for them to pass him, then stood and followed as Teal'c readied his zat gun and watched from the side, still manning the control panel.

As they neared, he could see that the C-4 had left quite a bit of the top of the sarcophagus in pieces surrounding the line where it had been welded shut. At a signal from Jack, Sam moved to one side of the sarcophagus while Jack took the far side, leaving Daniel closest to the rings. Daniel stood back and shifted his hands until his flashlight shone directly into the open crack.

He only had time to see a flash of bone and a blur of movement before something launched itself out of the sarcophagus and toward Jack.

"Whoa!" Jack ducked as the _something_ flew past him. "There it is!"

Daniel heard the sound of gunfire and the same squealing sound as before. As Teal'c's zat sounded, he turned away from the fight, knowing someone was watching his back, and aimed his light into the narrow crack in the sarcophagus.

The man inside was definitely dead, some of the bones picked clean while blood was still visibly oozing elsewhere. The crack was too narrow for him to see clearly, though... " _Naturu_ ," Daniel said, wincing, then set down the flashlight and plunged his hand into the box and felt around inside, suppressing the urge to gag when his fingers brushed something that felt and smelled far too much like half-rotted flesh.

"The Goa'uld is inside the creature!" Sam was saying.

"O'Neill!" Teal'c yelled, and then a _zat'nik'tel_ was fired again.

Something hard stopped Daniel's hand when he reached the far corner of the box. He started to dismiss it as a bone until he felt deep grooves cut into it and a surface that extended too far to be any human bone he knew--

"Nice shot," Jack said, and then someone fired a continuous burst of bullets. Daniel peeked out at them and saw something bloody and tentacled on the ground, the rest of them arrayed in almost a circle around a floppy form as Sam poked her boot at it.

"Is it dead?" Robert's voice asked when silence fell again.

"Oh, I'd say so," Sam said. "The symbiote, too."

Daniel grabbed the object and extracted his hand, knocking into the skeleton unnervingly as he did. "I've got something," he called. "Circular metal frame, feels like naquadah, _delmak_ core, uh...uh...writing--it's too dark to see it--"

"That might be it," Robert said. "Is there anything else in there?"

Daniel realized he was gripping what looked like a toe bone along with the strange artifact and quickly dropped it with a silent apology to the man whose tomb he was desecrating. "Uh... _yi shay_ ," he groaned. He braced himself and reached inside again, quickly sweeping the part of the sarcophagus that he hadn't searched before, brushing the dead man's body as little as he could. "No, nothing but the corpse," he said, pulling his hand out and backing away with relief, wiping his hand on his leg. He carefully set the stray toe bone back inside with the rest of the body.

"Ding dong, the Goa'uld is dead," Jack said. "Everyone to the ring platform. Let's click our heels and go home."

XXXXX

**_15 November 2000; Briefing Room, SGC; 0900 hrs_ **

"So what is this, exactly?" Hammond said, turning the whatever-it-was in his hands.

"Apparently, it's the Eye of Tiamat," Jack said. "Not really sure what it does."

Hammond nodded, still examining the device. "Is this writing up here?"

"Yes," Rothman said, leaning forward. "It's not...well...it's kind of a mix between Goa'uld hieroglyphs and cuneiform, which, as you can imagine, makes things a little complicated. But we think we have the general idea. It says that this is the Eye of Tiamat. And the source of power, but the problem is that we don't--"

Jack glanced at Hawkins, who seemed to have developed the strategy of letting his eyes glaze over at times like this rather than interrupt. "No, sir," Jack said loudly to cut the archaeologist off, "it _doesn't_ tell us more about what the device does."

"Per se," Daniel had to add, looking annoyed at the interruption. "Now we know it...conferred power of some sort on Marduk."

"Which we knew from that tablet thing Maybourne sent us," Jack pointed out.

"Do we know what kind of power?" Hammond said, turning to Carter.

"If Colonel Maybourne is correct that it _is_ a weapon," she said, "then it's something we've never encountered before. We've run tests, and honestly, we're having a lot of trouble. It's crystal technology; not the same as the Goa'uld technology we've seen before, but, just like a Goa'uld crystal...well, we think it needs something to plug into. It looks almost like something's missing."

Jack turned to Daniel, thinking unhappily that they could always make the hike back to the temple and try looking harder. "What?" Daniel said warily when he noticed others, not just Jack, staring at him.

"Are you sure there was nothing else in the sarcophagus when you found this?" Hammond said, handing the Eye of Tiamat back to Carter.

"Yes, sir," Daniel said.

"How sure?" Jack said.

"I think I touched every bone and organ in there, Jack; I would have noticed," Daniel said with a grimace. Apparently, he wasn't yet experienced enough of a grave-robber to be comfortable groping dead people to steal their stuff. "Do you want to go back and look again?"

"No," Teal'c said succinctly.

"Actually," Sanchez spoke up, "Major Carter, don't Goa'uld crystal systems usually require a lot more than just one crystal to function?"

"Yes," she said, looking pleased that someone around the table would understand what she was talking about for once. "In fact, that could well be the problem. We'd like to continue taking measurements on the Eye of Tiamat and examining its structure in an attempt to determine what its specific function in a larger circuit would be."

"Is it dangerous?" Hammond asked.

"Potentially, sir, if we're not careful with it," she said, "but no more than any other device. It doesn't seem to be a...a bomb of any sort, and there are no detectable energy emissions."

"What if it needs naquadah in the blood to work?" Daniel said. "It's a Goa'uld device."

"Martouf was helping me run experiments last night," she told him. "Neither of us triggered any sort of reaction. He says Marduk was before his time--before the Tok'ra--but the older System Lords might know how to use it, which means we should definitely keep it away from them."

Jack raised his eyebrows at her happy expression. "Marty's sticking around?"

"It seems like it, sir. He knows a lot more about Goa'uld history than any of us and more about Goa'uld technology than I do. I'm not sure how much we _can_ discover about the Eye of Tiamat in a short amount of time, but if someone can do it, he'll certainly be able to help."

That was a pretty enormous asset to have. Daniel knew a hell of a lot of Goa'uld history from Teal'c's lessons and things he'd found scratched on Abydonian walls, and Teal'c knew a hell of a lot more. A Tok'ra probably knew a hell of a lot _more_ than Teal'c, and someone who knew more about any kind of technology than Carter did couldn't _not_ be a good thing. If Martouf still needed to follow (and sometimes draw) landmarks through the base to find his way around, and if there were some gaps in his memory he and Lantash couldn't fill in even together, they could deal with that.

"You can continue working on it over the next week, Major Carter," Hammond said. "If you can't figure it out by then, I'll recommend shipping it to Area 51 for study."

"Yes, sir," she said.

"Does it seem to anyone else," Jack said, "that we almost got killed in an old pyramid--"

"Ziggurat," Daniel said.

"Step-pyramid," Rothman allowed.

"--and ended up with something that might or might not actually do anything?" Jack finished. "Maybourne thinks this is worth trying to extort a life sentence after what he's already done?"

"Maybourne thinks this is proof that he knows someone who knows something," Daniel corrected.

"What?" Jack said.

"Right?" Daniel said.

"Here's the good part, people," Hammond said. "Colonel Maybourne's on his way here now."

Well, wasn't that just great. "Sir?" Jack said.

"Shortly after SG-1 and -11 left for P2X-338, I received a call from one Colonel Nikolai Sokolov," Hammond said.

Jack frowned. "Sokolov," he repeated. "Russian?"

"That's right--Sokolov is the ranking officer overseeing research out of Kuybyshev Airbase. It seems Maybourne has been staying at their facility and earning his keep by telling Russian officials about the Stargate program."

"What?" Carter exclaimed. "Then--sir--but--"

"Interestingly enough," Hammond said, "it seems Maybourne was about to turn right around and tell _us_ about the research going on in Russia, too. Colonel Sokolov seems to think it's highly relevant to our operations here at the SGC."

"Uh..." Daniel said, holding up a finger, "why does he think this?"

"The archaeologist who found the tablet leading to P2X-338 is named Dr. Alexander Britski..." Hammond started.

"I've heard of him," Rothman said. "He's an expert in Mesopotamian archaeology and philology. It makes sense that someone like him was the one to find a cuneiform tablet."

Hammond nodded. "He found it over a year ago, but for some reason, never published it. And soon after that, he began working as a researcher at Kuybyshev."

"An archaeologist working for the Air Force," Jack said skeptically.

"I work for the Air Force," Rothman said.

Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "Then perhaps we should be extremely curious about the research taking place on this Russian base, Dr. Rothman."

Hawkins made a face. "Then they really _have_ known something about the Stargate for over a year; they just didn't know--until Maybourne told them--that they knew."

"Okay," Daniel said, squeezing his eyes shut, "maybe I missed this, but what is it that we think that they don't know that they know?"

"We don't know," Hammond said. "They're reluctant to tell us, in case Maybourne's been feeding them bad information. Frankly, I think they _do_ believe it, but they're holding it back as leverage."

"All right, let me get this straight," Jack said. "Maybourne double-crossed us. And then he went to Russia to...trade them information about us in exchange for asylum. Then he tried to double-cross _them_ by selling Russian secrets to us for a lowered sentence, but they beat him to the punch and _they_ double-crossed _him_ and are selling him to us for...what, confirmation of the Stargate, and to make sure _we're_ not double-crossing _them_ using _him_?"

"I think some of those are only single-crosses," Daniel said thoughtfully.

"One might be a triple," Rothman offered.

"Well, Colonel, you know nothing's ever that simple," Hammond said dryly. "We don't know exactly how much Maybourne told them, what they're offering, or what they want, but that seems to be the gist of it."

Jack looked around the table. "I hope you all got the gist, because I lost it somewhere."

"Here's the deal," the general said. "Major Carter, Major Davis from the Pentagon will be meeting with you, and the two of you will meet the chief science officer working on this project in Kuybyshev. You'll see exactly what they have going on there. At the same time, Colonel Sokolov and Dr. Britski will be coming here to meet with us, to verify that _their_ information is correct and to bring Maybourne to us."

"Uh, sir," Hawkins said. "By 'meet with us,' you mean...do you mean _us_?"

With a grim smile, Hammond said, "You're safe, Major Hawkins."

"Ah, crap," Jack muttered. "You mean _us_."

"Yes, Colonel, you and your team, with the exception of Major Carter, who will be meeting with Dr. Svetlana Markova in Russia."

Carter perked up a bit. "Svetlana Markova, that's who I'm meeting? I've read her work. She's a brilliant theoretical physicist."

"Great," Jack sighed. So Carter was going to be geeking out with a physicist in Russia, and the rest of them would be stuck playing nice with the Russians who were coming to the SGC.

"So SG-11's not dealing with this, at all?" Rothman said. "Because we had a follow-up mission postponed to help out with P2X-338, and it was originally rescheduled for this afternoon."

Hammond nodded. "SG-11's mission to P3X-888 is still on. Major Carter, your flight leaves in an hour; you'll meet with Major Davis at the Pentagon and continue together. I will speak with Colonel Sokolov's team with Colonel O'Neill. Since we're not sure of what exactly they know, Teal'c, I'd like you and Mr. Jackson to stay away from them unless I say otherwise. Talk to Maybourne and see what you can get out of him before he's taken to the proper facility."

"We will do so, General Hammond," Teal'c answered for both of them.

"Then let's get to work," Hammond said, standing up. "We've got a lot to do before they arrive this evening. And keep in mind--this is a delicate political situation. The President wants to keep relations as friendly and low-tension as possible."

"Well, then why don't we just give them a tour of the old place?" Jack said sarcastically. There was a pause. Jack raised his eyebrows. "We're...not giving them a tour?"

"We'll determine what they already know first," Hammond said. "Depending on that and what they think they can offer us--"

"Or hold over our heads," Jack interrupted.

Hammond scowled. "That, too, Colonel. Depending on all of that, and what the President says when I call him later today, we will decide what we can show them. But keep in mind that all they can do to us is leak information that we'll immediately deny, anyway. It could be messy, but we have the Stargates-- _we_ will stay in control of this situation."

Jack sighed. "Yes, sir." _Unless it becomes too politically delicate_ , he thought sourly.


	10. The Russians

**_15 November 2000; Briefing Room, SGC; 1800 hrs_ **

"What are you reading now?"

Daniel looked up to see Jack drumming his fingers impatiently on the table as they waited for General Hammond to come out of his office and say the Russians had arrived. "Have you seen what this says?" he said, holding up a report that Robert had written and suggested that he read.

Jack pulled uneasily at the sleeves of his dress blues and eyed the thick packet of papers. "I'm pretty sure having you on my team means I _don't_ have to read those things."

"SG-11 has found a planet with Goa'uld fossils and remains but nothing to indicate that there was ever a civilization there that would attract Goa'uld attention," Daniel said. "They've examined the fossils and even found a well-preserved dead specimen and brought it back to be studied."

"I thought those things got...absorbed into the host body when they died," Jack said.

Daniel held up a finger. "Well, that's another thing. There's no sign of a host."

"If there are no hosts present," Teal'c said, "then a Goa'uld symbiote cannot survive."

"And that's what's really interesting," he said. "Robert doesn't think they _were_ just symbiotes--that is, they seem to have been predators instead of parasites."

"Then Dr. Rothman believes that Goa'uld are able to survive without a host?"

"Not...exactly," Daniel said. "It's more that he thinks Goa'uld _used_ to be able to survive without a host at some point. They haven't found any living populations of Goa'uld symbiotes like that, but that's what the fossils suggest, or, at the very least, there was something on that planet that killed a lot of Goa'uld symbiotes. Should we even call them 'symbiotes' if they weren't symbiotic?" he mused. "I should asked him."

"How are fossils able to suggest such a thing?" Teal'c said.

Daniel shrugged and opened the report again. "I'm just getting to that part now. They've spent a lot of time talking to the biologists about this, but you see what this means, of course."

Jack was frowning at him. "That, besides the slimy snakes that dig into people's heads, there are also slimy snakes that try to take a bite out of you instead?"

" _Were_ , Jack. There _were_. Which means they _evolved_ to be what they are today."

"Okay," Jack said. "I...don't really care."

Rolling his eyes, Daniel explained, "Evolution doesn't just happen for no reason. Either something changed in their environment, or some of _them_ changed, and then they could survive better than the others until they were _all_ changed."

"And I still don't _care_ ," Jack said.

" _And_...if...if we know what it was that made them survive better, we can start trying to find ways of making them survive worse." Daniel thought about that, then made a face. "Well. Maybe. Either way, the more we know about our enemy, the better, right?"

Jack glanced at Teal'c. "The System Lords would refuse to tell their followers such information," Teal'c said. "If your scholars believe this to be true, then we should learn all that we can about the nature of the Goa'uld."

"All right," Jack said. "That's all very well. But what happened to reading up on Britski?"

"I spent the day reading every abstract of his I could find," Daniel said, "so if discussion of his archaeological exploits inexplicably comes up today, we won't be completely lost. But somehow, I don't think that'll be our biggest issue."

"What about that tablet thing?"

"We're not completely certain, since its existence is classified. But Dr. Britski led an expedition last year to Rafha, near Iraq, and shortly afterward, he left his academic position to start working at Kuybyshev and hasn't published anything in the journals since, aside from a couple of invited reviews. I think we can guess what he found there."

"That's doesn't tell us much," Jack said.

Daniel shrugged. "I don't _know_ very much. It's _classified_."

The general's office door opened, and he stepped out. "They've arrived," he said. "Colonel, we'll meet them on the surface and bring them into one of the rooms in NORAD. Teal'c, Mr. Jackson, Colonel Maybourne is being examined right now; it might take some time before they're done searching him, but you can meet him at the isolation cells on level 16."

...x...

"Hello, Daniel," Maybourne said, sitting behind a table in his private little room with one wrist cuffed to his chair. "And Teal'c, too--what a pleasant surprise. It's been so long."

"Not long enough," Teal'c said.

"Colonel Maybourne," Daniel answered as the SFs closed the door behind them. "What did you tell them about us?"

Maybourne's eyebrows rose. "That's it? No pleasantries?"

Impatient, Daniel repeated, "What did you tell them?"

"You used to be so talkative," Maybourne complained. "We've got history, the two of us. I bring you to Area 51 to play with a few toys, you come to Area 51 and meet me, I work with Major Carter pretending to look like you to save Earth from an alien invasion..."

"...and then you almost get Earth punished by advanced aliens for stealing their technology," Daniel finished stiffly. "Not to mention that we just spent days stuck in an ancient ziggurat with a flesh-eating monster because we followed your information." Only a slight flicker of worry and surprise told Daniel that Maybourne had had little or no idea what was on P2X-338, either. "So answer the question, please."

"You wouldn't hold a grudge, would you?" Maybourne said, his expression clearing again.

Daniel folded his arms. "I don't mind a good grudge."

With a tight smile, Maybourne said, "You were more fun the last time we talked."

"You mean when I was fourteen and you took me to be experimented on? Or maybe when you were high from abusing narcotic Goa'uld tech?"

"Come now, that's--"

Teal'c took two steps closer and placed his hands on the tablet, leaning down very slightly but not saying a word. Maybourne glanced up at him nervously, then away. "You're stalling," Daniel said.

Maybourne looked up at Teal'c again. "I told the Russians about your Stargate," he said. "But you won't be sorry. Because now that I'm here...I'm going to tell you about the Russians' DHD."

"The...the Russians'...DHD," Daniel repeated, his mind whirring. "You're joking, right?"

"You think I would I joke about this?"

"I think you would lie," Teal'c growled, so suddenly that Maybourne started in his seat.

But Maybourne turned to look at Daniel. "No, you got it," he said, pointing his one free hand at Daniel. "I can see it in your eyes. You know what I'm talking about."

Teal'c turned around to look at him, too. "I'm...I might have an idea," Daniel said, thinking about everything he knew about the Stargate--the Star _gates_ \--on Earth, and the Giza excavations... "But I'd like to hear your version, anyway."

"Giza," Maybourne said simply, still watching him.

" _Yi shay_ ," Daniel sighed. He glanced at his watch--if Maybourne was telling the truth, then Sam and Major Davis were probably standing in front of the Giza DHD right now. Pulling his focus back, he thought harder and said, "No. It doesn't fit. We've examined every expedition to Giza before 1928, and we know that none of those parties has a DHD--"

"Not that you know of. The DHD is--"

"--classified, yes. But there was _no_ Russian expedition to Giza in that timeframe."

"But there was a German one," Maybourne said. "There were a _few_ German ones, in fact. And then came a little conflict on this planet that we like to call World War II. Did you study that one, Daniel, or do you need me to connect the dots for you?"

Daniel looked at Teal'c, who was watching him, as if to gauge his opinion. "The Germans were on the losing side," Daniel said, dredging up the facts that Robert had made him learn while studying Earth's recent history for the GEDs. "At the end, Russia--the Soviet Union...occupied part of Germany."

"Very good," Maybourne said, smirking. "And _our_ country and the Soviet Union...well, let's say we didn't get along very well for a while after that. Just think of all the things they might've done without telling the United States. Confiscating a DHD and trying to understand how it works in secret, for example."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow. Daniel nodded once to say that it sounded reasonable to him, though whether or not it was true...

Sam would know right away, though. They'd find out soon enough.

"This is what I've always liked about you, Daniel," Maybourne was saying. "You're quick. Got a good mind. I was thinking of recruiting you for my team, you know, but getting you alone to talk was always a problem."

That only made Daniel remember how furious he'd been when he'd found out what Maybourne had been doing--when he'd wondered if the SGC had suspected Daniel as a member of the rogue NID operation, and if that was why their team couldn't be told about Jack's infiltration.

"I am not yet convinced that you speak the truth," Teal'c said, blocking Maybourne's view of Daniel and leaning in very close to the man. "But if this is true, then you still have not answered our question. What have you told Colonel Sokolov about Stargate Command?"

Maybourne always seemed to be a little intimidated by having Teal'c in his face. Daniel liked that about him.

"Enough about your operations that they know how much you want to keep this place secret," Maybourne said evenly. "Enough about the Stargate that their chief science officer thought of Major Carter's work even before I mentioned Major Carter's name. Enough about the politics that they know how much you're going to want that DHD. And enough about the personnel to know who Daniel is and that Teal'c's got a Goa'uld in his stomach."

Teal'c didn't move. Daniel, watching from behind, could only imagine the expression Maybourne was seeing right now. He hoped it was a scary one.

"You gave them bargaining chips against us," Daniel said, "and then they sold you out just as you were about to do the same thing to them."

"Is that glee I hear in your voice?" Maybourne said with an air that was probably less relaxed than he actually was. "What can I say? They beat me to the punch. I'll thank you to remember that I was looking the whole time to get something like this to tell you guys at the SGC. Think about what this could do for you."

"Right. You did this for _us_ ," Daniel said.

"Think about it," Maybourne repeated. "A DHD, people! Budget issues slashed--get the Senate appropriations committee off the President's back about the money going into this program, just to dial the 'gate, and he'll get off your case. Faster exploration schedules. More efficient operations--you can use your computer techs to do something useful instead of constantly running diagnostics on your jury-rigged dialing system. You can stop bypassing all those safety protocols Major Carter skips past because her computer's not as good as a DHD. Come on. You have to admit I did pretty good."

Daniel hoped politics on this planet weren't always like this, or his tenure here was going to be a very strange time. "How did _you_ know about their DHD?" he asked. "Or Britski's research?"

Maybourne raised his eyebrows. "We had someone who picked up a Stargate in _Antarctica_. You really think Russia was out of our reach?"

"So...NID," Daniel said.

"Who was your agent there?" Teal'c said.

"No clue," Maybourne said. When neither of them answered, he rolled his eyes. "You're not idiots. You know perfectly well none of us knew much about anyone else."

Fair. Galling, but probably true. "What does the Russian military want from the SGC?" Teal'c said.

"You'll have to ask them about that," Maybourne said. "But I'm sure you can think of a few things they'd want. Technology, for one."

"Of course, you _would_ think of the technology first," Daniel said in disgust.

"And believe me," Maybourne said sharply, "so will they."

A knock sounded, and then the door opened. "Teal'c, Mr. Jackson," the airman said, "General Hammond wants you in the briefing room."

Daniel glanced back once more at where Teal'c was still looming over Maybourne. "We're on our way," he told the airman. Teal'c lingered another second, then walked out the open door. Daniel followed, closing the door behind him.

...x...

Daniel supposed he shouldn't have been surprised to look up toward the briefing room and see two unfamiliar faces with General Hammond, looking out the window at the Stargate. Jack met them before they could go up the stairs and said quietly, "Carter called--they've got a DHD, and it's real. It's from--"

"Giza," Daniel filled in.

"Colonel Maybourne told us that as well," Teal'c explained.

"Jack," Daniel whispered, "why are the Russians _here_ , looking at the _Stargate_?"

"Yeah, that," Jack said, scowling. "The President wants the DHD. He also doesn't want the Russians to get pissed off and start spreading rumors about the Stargate."

"Would people even believe rumors like that?"

Jack shrugged. "I met a reporter once who believed some rumors. All we need is for enough people to get curious and hear about things like--like the foothold incident. Or Apophis's attack, or the Replicators. Apparently, that's not what the President considers 'low-tension.'"

"So, what do we do now?" Daniel said.

"We start bargaining," Jack said. "Get the DHD and get them to keep their mouths shut."

"What do they ask in return?" Teal'c said.

"They want in," Jack said, gesturing for them to enter. Daniel's eyebrows shot up. "That's what they said. They want to be involved in the Stargate program. What that means...I don't know. General," he said as they entered.

"These are Teal'c and Daniel Jackson, two of the members of Colonel O'Neill's team," the general said, gesturing to each of them in turn, "and these are Colonel Sokolov and Dr. Britski."

Sokolov's gaze was lingering a little too long on Teal'c's tattoo, so Daniel cleared his throat and said, "Welcome to the SGC, sir."

" _Nevozmozhny_ ," Dr. Britski breathed, not looking away from the 'gate.

"It _is_ amazing," Colonel Sokolov agreed. "That is the Stargate?"

"That's right," Jack said, looking annoyed the way he always did when forced to be polite to people he didn't like. He tapped a finger on the window. "That's the old orifice." Daniel frowned at him but didn't comment. Jack raised his eyebrows as if to say, _'what?'_ Knowing Jack, he'd meant just what he'd said.

"It is...difficult to believe something like that can truly do what you claim," Britski said. "Perhaps a demonstration could be possible? Something to help us understand that this device truly does what we believe."

"As the general already said," Jack said testily, "we're not sending you through the Stargate just like that. If you want to be skeptical about it, frankly, that's your business."

"Colonel O'Neill," Sokolov said, "we are proposing a trade that would give you possession of a device that could be of great importance to your operations. Surely you do not expect that we will do this without some idea of what we are helping you to do? I do not believe that is too much to ask."

"I do," Jack said.

"Maybe," Daniel said, "sir, we could just establish a wormhole and prove that it works."

General Hammond looked like he wished he could avoid that, too, but they'd agreed beforehand on the limits to what they could and couldn't show. Daniel wasn't sure anymore whether they just really wanted the DHD or really wanted the Russians to stay quiet. He supposed there was an element of both, but with the prospect of blackmail hanging constantly over them...

Actually...if Russia knew about and started to benefit from the SGC, as they seemed to want, then the prospects of blackmail became much less threatening. Pointing fingers at the SGC would be pointing fingers at themselves, then, too.

"All right," the general finally agreed. "We'll send a MALP to a friendly planet and let you see what you're agreeing to. How about..." His gaze drifted toward Daniel.

Abydos was always one of the first to spring to mind when thinking of friendly planets; they had a long history with the SGC. Not wanting to needlessly expose it to vulnerability, though, Daniel said quickly, "Perhaps somewhere abandoned. What about P2X-338, sir?"

"We could then avoid disturbing any inhabitants," Teal'c agreed. Taking in the dress uniform that Jack wore, he added, "Daniel Jackson and I can accompany the MALP to return it afterward."

"Fine," the general said, nodding. "Get ready--I'll inform the technicians."

...x...

General Hammond's voice ordered from the control room as the Stargate began to dial, _"Teal'c, once we receive clear MALP telemetry, you two will follow to the other side. Once we have visual confirmation that you've arrived, we'll allow the wormhole to close. Redial from your end, and upon receiving the order, return with the MALP."_

"I can't believe we're doing this," Daniel said quietly to Teal'c as they stood in the embarkation room. "I thought it would be fun to meet the Russians. I barely even got to talk to them."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow and answered, just as softly, "Following this exercise, they can have no other reason to disbelieve our word, and we can return to our normal duties. Access to a dialing device would give us a great advantage over the less-advanced system we currently use."

"I'll bet someone could find a reason to disbelieve whatever they want," Daniel muttered under his breath.

Sure enough, just then, a Russian voice said, _"It occurs now to me that a transmission is easily created. How can we be sure that what we are seeing is not previously created footage?"_

_"For cryin' out loud,"_ Jack's voice said. _"Well, for one, Teal'c and Daniel will have disappeared."_

"And we'll talk to you from the other side," Daniel called loudly, turning around in time to see the two Russians flinch at the sight of the unstable vortex. He and Teal'c pushed the MALP through the event horizon together.

_"That would be appreciated,"_ General Hammond said, his voice clipped and sounding nearly as annoyed as Jack's. A moment later, he said, _"MALP telemetry is clear. You have a go."_

Eager to get this over with, Daniel followed Teal'c through--

\--and landed on the rocky soil of P2X-338. " _Ay_ ," Daniel said, shaking off the brief shock of the sudden temperature change.

"Indeed," Teal'c said, then bent down toward the MALP camera. "General Hammond, we have arrived."

The MALP's camera panned slowly around. Daniel moved out of the way to allow it a view of the ziggurat in the distance and the two moons just barely visible against the dusk sky. _"We read you, Teal'c,"_ the general's tinny voice answered through the MALP. _"We're disengaging in three...two...one..."_

The event horizon disappeared.

Daniel quickly dialed Earth again while Teal'c readied his GDO. It didn't take long for the wormhole to be established, and this time, he bent down to say into the MALP, "Dr. Britski, if you still think this is impossible--well, _eto vozmozhny_. Or, uh... _eto ne nevozmozhny_."

_"Okay, kids, the shortest mission in SGC history has been accomplished. Playtime's over,"_ Jack's voice came through. _"Pack it up and come home."_

...x...

"So now," General Hammond was saying as Daniel and Teal'c hurried back up the stairs to the briefing room, "I trust there's no more doubt on either end about what's being offered. Obviously, we can't authorize something as significant as Russian involvement in this project without further discussion."

"That is understandable, General," Colonel Sokolov said. "Perhaps we can arrange for a more formal meeting to negotiate this between our governments."

"That sounds fine, Colonel," General Hammond said. "For now, do you have a specific plan we can present to the President?"

Sokolov exchanged a glance with Britski, then said, "We are willing to give the SGC the dialing device in our possession, and, of course, we have already given you Colonel Maybourne. In exchange, an SG team of Russian personnel will operate alongside American units at the SGC, and our scientists will participate in research conducted here."

"Oh, I don't think so," Jack scoffed. Daniel really hoped that was supposed to be an price that could be bargained down.

"Neither do I," General Hammond said, "but in any case, this isn't an arrangement we can agree to without consultation with the President."

"And that is true of us as well," Britski acknowledged.

"We'll present your offer to the President," the general said, "and I'm sure we can come to some sort of agreement."

"I certainly hope so," Colonel Sokolov said. "We look forward to working with you."

Which sounded a little too optimistic on the Russians' part for Daniel's liking, but he kept his mouth shut. "Mr. Jackson," the general said, standing, "please escort Colonel Sokolov and Dr. Britski back to the surface and to their transportation. Colonel, Doctor--we'll be in touch."

"Thank you, General," Sokolov said.

"Gentlemen?" Daniel said, gesturing down the stairs. "This way, please."

Just before he walked out behind the two Russians, Daniel looked back to see Jack make a zipping motion across his lips.

As he stepped into the elevator with them, Dr. Britski said, "Colonel Maybourne told us many things about Stargate Command. I admit that I believed few of them."

Daniel wasn't sure if he was supposed to answer there, but, to fill the silence, he pushed the button to level 11 and said, "It's hard to believe, I know, but you've seen with your own eyes that it's true."

"What about the tablet?"

Surprised, Daniel said, "The...the one about the eye of Tiamat?" Dr. Britski nodded. "Uh..."

"If you are wondering what you are allowed to say," Sokolov said dryly, "remember that tablet was _our_ classified information, not yours."

That was fair. "Well, actually, that's the planet where Teal'c and I just went," Daniel said.

"And?" Britski said eagerly.

"And...we got trapped in a crumbling ziggurat for two days with a flesh-eating monster," Daniel said, because no one had mentioned the Eye of Tiamat yet and he wasn't sure if he was supposed to. "Sir. It was nice to see a ziggurat, though."

There was a brief pause. "Then," Sokolov said as they stepped out and moved to the next elevator to take them to the surface, "I trust that you see how useful Russian involvement in your program could be."

Warier now, Daniel said, "I really--it's not my place to say that, sir."

"I'm sure your Major Carter would agree with me," Sokolov pressed. "She is even now speaking with a world-renowned expert in theoretical physics, just as you have been just now speaking to a world-renowned expert in archaeology."

"I'll be sure to ask Major Carter about it when she returns, Colonel," Daniel said. "I can't make any promises on behalf of the SGC."

The doors opened. Daniel led the way out to where a car was waiting for them.

"Doctor," he said, taking the hand the Britski offered. "It was nice to meet you."

Britski snorted, looking amused. "I am certain that is not true."

A little embarrassed, Daniel admitted, "I...would have preferred that this hadn't been forced on us, but it _is_ an honor to meet someone whose work I've referenced."

That seemed to appease the archaeologist. Colonel Sokolov offered his hand to be shaken, too. "I hope our organizations will work closely in the future," he said.

"Uh...I'm sure we'll...find out about that soon," Daniel said awkwardly. "I wish you a safe trip."

...x...

"You may be glad to know," the general told them when Daniel returned to the briefing room, "that most of the details of this will be settled by myself, Major Davis, and others who have the authority to speak for the President."

"Yes! Sir," Jack said, clearly relieved.

"We _are_ going to have to compromise," the general warned them. "Whether it's Russian participation in our projects or partial disclosure of our activities, the President wants to do what's necessary to keep a lid on this and make sure the Russians don't stay in possession of technology related to the Stargate."

"But a Russian team, sir?" Jack said skeptically.

"It's not as if they're asking to put one of their men on _your_ team, Colonel," the general said. "It may not be as bad as it sounds. We'll deal with whatever the consequences may be, and I doubt it'll be anything we can't handle easily enough. It's a matter of keeping things as calm as possible, for the program and for our relations with Russia."

"What will happen to Colonel Maybourne?" Teal'c said.

"He'll be moved to a prison with the necessary security until his execution date," the general said. "He's asked for reconsideration of his sentence, but that's out of our hands. Major Carter should be back tomorrow, and I'll be speaking with the President over the next several days. We'll know more within the week."

XXXXX

**_20 November 2000; Archaeology Office, SGC; 1200 hrs_ **

"Hi!" Robert said, practically running into the office nearly a week later.

Daniel looked up, eyeing Robert's uncharacteristically ecstatic expression and wondering whether it would be best to ignore him and wait until he went back to normal.

Robert continued all the way in and looked down at what Daniel was doing. "Hi," he repeated.

"Hi," Daniel said cautiously. "Uh...welcome back. Good trip?"

"I found it," Robert said.

Daniel wondered if this was what people felt like when he said things without explaining them fully. "Found what?" he prompted.

"Did you read my report?"

"The one on your theory of Goa'uld evolution?"

"Yeah. Is that it?" Robert bent to look at what Daniel was reading and frowned. "You're reading about the Cold War when you could be reading about Goa'uld evolution? Oh, wait, that's right--the Russians. How'd that go?"

"Um," Daniel said, leaning back and pulling off his glasses. "You know how we've been assuming the Giza DHD was just...lost or destroyed somehow?"

"Right...hey," Robert said, straightening and opening his eyes wide. "No-o. Are you saying...?" Daniel nodded. "But we looked...and excavations at Giza--but--"

"The Germans found it at Giza, the Russians took it from them, and now we're going to get it."

"Huh," Robert said. "What?"

"The Germans--"

"No, I heard you," Robert said, sitting down at his desk. "I just...really? How come we're going to get it?"

"That's still being worked out. And speaking of working things out..." Daniel tapped the textbook. "You know, according to this book, the Cold War is over."

"It is," Robert said.

"Well, judging by our meeting with them and the way people talk around here, I'd never know the Cold War was over if I hadn't read about it first."

"It's going that well, huh."

"It's not _terrible_ ," Daniel conceded. "Just...I don't know. Apparently, it would be a big deal to let them participate even a little with us, but wouldn't it make sense to expand the pool of people from which we can choose SG personnel? I mean, just two of the people they sent to meet us are top scientists in the _world_."

"Well..." Robert said. "It's...it's complicated. There's politics and stuff."

Resisting the temptation to smile at the level of detail in that explanation, Daniel said, "Yeah. I just didn't realize there was so much distrust between these two countries. All countries here like that?"

Robert shrugged. "It's a matter of degree, sort of. These are big secrets we're dealing with, but it's not like we're at war with them or anything," he said. "So what's the deal going to be?"

"Four Russians will be assigned to SG-4 as a combat and support unit--"

"What, what?" Robert said.

Daniel raised his eyebrows.

"I mean, go on," Robert said, but when Daniel opened his mouth, he said, "Wait, wait--we're really getting a Russian SG team?"

" _Yes_ , really," Daniel said. "Can I go on now?"

"Well, not if you're going to be snippy about it," Robert said snippily.

Daniel quashed the temptation to stick out his tongue at his boss. "The good part is that that's the biggest concession we have to make. Dr. Svetlana Markova--she's a physicist--will be here to observe when we connect the DHD to the Stargate, and then we're supposed to share with Russia all pertinent technology gained through the Stargate program."

"Whoa," Robert said. "That's, uh...see...in the complicated world of Tau'ri politics, that's what we call a concession."

"You're not in politics," Daniel said.

"And yet I still recognize that as a concession," Robert said.

"At least it shouldn't disrupt our normal activities much--the general will just send technical reports to them like we do to the NID--and we get the DHD and a guarantee that Russia will help us keep the SGC out of the public eye. We're still in charge of what stays classified and what doesn't." He hesitated, looking around, then lowered his voice. "To be honest, I'm not sure we're going to be actively _sharing_ so much as...well, like what we do with the Tok'ra."

"Selective sharing," Robert said in understanding. "Despite the treaty that says 'open sharing.'"

"That's not good, is it?" Daniel said uncertainly. "I mean, that's...weird."

"Our lives are weird," Robert said dismissively. "Whatever the general says to do--he's got a better head for this stuff than we do, because, like you said, we're not politicians. As long as they don't keep bothering us and we get to keep that DHD, I'm fine. God--a DHD. That'll be...wow."

"Yeah. For cataloguing purposes, and in case anything _does_ happen to it, we're still going to keep the dialing computers up to date and have to run regular test dials..."

"Still. Our very own DHD. That's pretty cool." Daniel grinned as Robert turned on his computer. "Oh, yeah--what about here? Anything interesting happen?"

"Besides the Russians?" Daniel said.

"I mean in _here_ \--in the department," Robert clarified, gesturing around their office. He picked up a small pile of folders on his desk. "Are these the completed assignments?"

"Yes--you just need to sign off on them and send them to records," Daniel said. He stood and picked up another two piles on his own desk. "And these are outgoing. Lab and desk assignments here"--he handed Robert the first pile--"and I have the field assignments to be distributed. I'll take care of those."

"Did you..." Robert started, opening the first folder in his pile. "Oh, Daniel. I hate your Post-It notes."

"What's wrong with my Post-It notes?" Daniel said indignantly.

In answer, Robert peeled off the one in the first file and held it up. "Can you even read this?" Daniel squinted. "Without squinting."

"I had a lot of notes about that one," he defended. "It looks like Phoenician but it's deceptive; I think it's a Canaanite language that never underwent that vowel shift you see on Earth--or, rather, it _did_ , in a way, but it was conditioned differently, so it's applied differently, and you can get stuck quickly and start translating it wrong if you don't realize it's not stress-conditioned--"

"You could've used two Post-Its," Robert said, sticking the note back on. "Or a sheet of paper."

Daniel wrinkled his nose. "I'll do that next time."

"And you noted that...you want to give it to someone? If it's that complicated, you might want to take it yourself. Are you busy with anything else?"

"Uh...actually, not really," Daniel said, turning to his computer to open the chart that showed who was busy with what assignments. "We're just winding down the Russian stuff."

"Here, you do it," Robert said, tossing the folder onto Daniel's desk. "Do I need to look the rest of these over, or should I just hand them out?"

"No, I sorted them all and made sure they were going to someone with time in their duty schedule," Daniel said. "You just need to sign off on them." He waited semi-patiently for Robert to finish signing them all, then asked, "Are you done?"

"Yeah, I'm done."

"So? What were you excited about when you came in?"

Robert sat back, looking excited again. "Oh, nothing much..." he said, unconvincingly. "Except that I think we may have found the Goa'uld homeworld." He looked expectantly at Daniel.

"Homeworld," Daniel repeated. "You mean where a Goa'uld lives, or...?"

"No, no, the first Goa'uld world!" Robert said. "Like, ever, in history! No signs of hosts or any sort of human civilization. Now, we've only spent about a week there so far, but we've already found several fossilized remains of Goa'uld, and absolutely no signs of bones or...or anything that could be from a human or other host. This is more than the random pieces we've found on other planets--there are remains everywhere, and they're _older_ than the Antarctica Stargate."

"And since the scientists in Antarctica said that Stargate is the oldest we've found so far..." Daniel said.

"Well," Robert said, holding up a hand, "I still have doubts about the dating methods they're using, and whether that's comparable with methods used on off-world 'gates. But it's a ballpark, yes, and this is...this is... I'm talking orders of magnitude. We found half a Goa'uld fossil buried in a rock on P3X-888, and the rock is older than the Stargates."

Daniel flipped his book shut and put it aside, his interest peaked. "Really."

"Really," Robert said, nodding vigorously, "and you know how we said at first it was essentially impossible for humans to have evolved the same on all planets? They must have evolved together on _one_ planet first and were then transplanted to others. Well, it's the same with the Goa'uld. The similarity between the prehistoric specimens and the ones we're seen are...I mean... Daniel, it means the Goa'uld were _there_ on '888 before there were Stargates and hosts."

"Then the Goa'uld...must have evolved on '888," Daniel said slowly, "before they were able to use the Stargates to find human hosts--"

"Unas hosts," Robert corrected.

"Right, right, the Unas were the first hosts. But you said in your report that the Goa'uld used to be predators instead of parasites, which means they wouldn't have _needed_ hosts at first..."

"And if they were there before Stargates, then the only other way to get between planets is by ship," Robert said, "which they wouldn't have been able to build because, A, there's not enough naquadah in their environment, and B, Goa'ulds without hosts lack opposable thumbs."

"So they must have been on the planet before the Stargates were built," Daniel said, "and then they went from there to other planets."

Robert leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "I found the Goa'uld homeworld, Daniel. I found it."

" _Naturu_ ," Daniel said, pushing himself away from his desk. "Robert...this...is...do you know what this..."

"I know!"

"You have to go back."

"Oh, I'm going back on Wednesday."

"Can I come?"

"Absolutely."

Daniel blinked. "R...really?"

Robert leaned forward. "Daniel, this could be the greatest historical discovery we've made since the start of the Stargate program. The general agrees, and he's given SG-11 four weeks for a detailed study of the area. That's partly what this second trip was for--we had to make sure there really were no signs of intelligent life that could be a threat."

"So you're going back for four weeks for a detailed study of P3X-888," Daniel repeated, pointing to himself, "and I can come?"

Robert raised his eyebrows. "Four weeks isn't as much as it sounds like. I don't mind extra help, and I did promise to bring you next time we did a long study. Hawkins doesn't mind. Actually, I was just about to ask if you--"

"Yes, I want to come!"

"--have any other duties with SG-1," Robert finished. "What about this Russian business?"

"It's practically settled," Daniel said. "Okay, not yet, but it's not really something I can help with right now, because General Hammond's not about to send me to liaise with a country I know nothing about when they'd be less likely to take my age in stride anyway, and... Robert, you have to let me go with you!"

"Ask your team," Robert ordered, and then, "Well, what are you waiting for? Go--ask your team."

...x...

**_20 November 2000; Commissary, SGC; 1245 hrs_ **

"...and he said I can go with him," Daniel said, watching Jack eat without looking up. "If you say I can, anyway. All of you, obviously," he added, looking at Sam and Teal'c, "but...so, can I? Please?"

"And this is the Goa'uld...what?" Jack said, peeling the top layer off his sandwich to examine the contents within before dropping the bread back on top.

"Homeworld," Daniel said impatiently. "The...the...the spawning place."

"Of the Goa'uld," Jack repeated.

"Jack!"

"Do you believe this mission to be of importance?" Teal'c asked.

"Yes," Daniel said emphatically. "This is where the Goa'uld evolved. We could learn...how they became what they are today, maybe find out the basic, _basic_ things that can tell us why some are Goa'uld and some Tok'ra, how and why they left that world, possibly even find clues about why we haven't found signs of living Goa'uld or hosts there now, and if we knew that, we might know something about the environments most conducive to Goa'uld life, which could lead us to understanding more about what's _not_ conducive to Goa'uld life, which could lead us to a way to kill the Goa'uld."

Sam had stopped eating. "You think so?" she said, frowning, when he stopped to take a breath.

"Well. There is...potential for discoveries of that nature," he hedged. "But we don't know what we'll find until we find it, and for something that Robert thinks could be the most important historical discovery of the SGC to date, it would really be a good idea to learn as much and as fast as possible, so...I'm volunteering as an extra pair of hands and legs and brains."

"A pair of brains?" Jack said.

"Just one of those," Daniel amended.

"So Dr. Rothman's invited you to help him dig in the ground for Goa'uld bones," Jack said.

"Jack," Daniel said.

"Just to be clear," Jack said. "This isn't gonna be like a _Jurassic Park_ thing, right?"

"A...what? No," Daniel said. "The Jurassic Period on Earth definitely predates even the--"

"I am certain that SG-11 will not engage in genetic experiments on the Goa'uld fossils, O'Neill," Teal'c interrupted him.

"Why would they?" Daniel asked blankly.

"To make a theme park," Jack said, in a tone of voice that said that should be obvious.

"Don't worry about it," Sam advised him. "There's no way that would work, anyway. Our science is ridiculously incomplete for that."

Completely lost now, Daniel said, "For a theme park?"

"No, for a _dinosaur_ theme park," she explained.

"Okay," Daniel said, deciding to ignore what he was pretty sure was a missed Earth reference, "the point is, in the next couple of weeks, four Russian soldiers will be arriving to form SG-4, and a DHD will be hooked up, right? And Sam's probably going to be busy dealing with the switchover to DHD, and I know SG-1 is supposed to take part in SG-4's orientation and field training, but I'm not needed for either of those."

Jack glanced at Sam, who said, "I think we'll be hearing from Colonel Sokolov and his men by the end of this week, sir, but it probably _will_ be at least another couple of weeks before SG-1 can get back to our normal mission routines, especially with periodic checks on the Enkarans."

"Teal'c, you and Jack don't need _me_ to take elite Russian military personnel on training missions, do you?" Daniel wheedled. "You're not going to go somewhere totally unknown where you might need to speak some obscure language on the first couple of trips through the 'gate."

"Daniel Jackson is correct, O'Neill," Teal'c said. Daniel made sure he didn't let his expression show triumph, because it'd just make Jack stubborn. "His presence may not be necessary in this case."

"Robert and I _really_ think P3X-888 is important for study," Daniel said. "Really, _really_ important."

"That important, huh," Jack said. "Is it cleared?"

"SG-11 spent a week checking the area where they're planning to stay," Daniel said.

"When do they start?"

"In two days. Uh...Wednesday."

"For four weeks?"

"That's the current estimate, yes."

Jack considered for a moment, then took an enormous bite of his sandwich. "Okay," he said once he'd swallowed.

Daniel's eyes widened. "Okay?"

"You know the rules for joining other teams," Jack added. "Before Wednesday, I need your check-in schedule, the supplies you're bringing, the written statement of why you just _have_ to go...all of that. Got it?"

"I'll talk to Hawkins and have everything for you by tomorrow morning," Daniel promised, relieved. "Thank you. I'll bring my books and study and everything while I'm there."

Jack played with his napkin for a moment, then shrugged. "Digging in the dirt. What could go wrong?"

XXXXX

**_21 November 2000; Embarkation Room, SGC; 1600 hrs_ **

As it turned out, the Russian DHD arrived on base along with Dr. Svetlana Markova the day before Daniel was to leave with SG-11 for P3X-888. "Huh," Jack said, tapping a finger against the rim as they all stood around it. "So this is the real deal."

"You still had doubts, Colonel O'Neill?" Markova said, still seeming fascinated by the sight of the Stargate alone.

"Little bit," Jack said bluntly. "Thought you might be lying through your teeth." He flicked a nail at the covering over the central crystals, as if to test whether it was plastic.

Markova tore her gaze away from the Stargate to ask Sam, "Is he always like this?"

Sam glanced at Jack and answered, "Actually, for him, this is quite charming."

Jack preened a little bit.

"It's pretty incredible," Sam said, extracting her hand and her voltmeter from within, where she had been testing the circuits, "but it looks like it's in working order--no damage at all from the number of times it's been transported and whatever else has happened to it in between. I'll need to get some supplies, and then we can do a test dial."

"Go ahead," Jack told her.

As she left, Markova said, "We found very early on that it was able to do this." She pressed a hand to one of the glyphs, making it light up. "And you say these mark coordinates."

"Indeed," Teal'c said.

"Major Carter explained to me that they mark a point to which all the stars in the constellation are equidistant. But I wonder--why do six points mark the destination, and not four?"

"You'll probably have to ask Major Carter about the science behind that," Jack said.

But Markova shook her head. "There is no question about the science. Six points form three intersecting lines--but _two_ intersecting lines from four points would serve the same purpose of defining a single point at the destination."

"We have a few theories about that," Daniel said.

"We do?" Jack said.

"We think it could be a way to increase the number of permutations, either to allow for more destinations or to prevent people from easily finding those destinations just by guessing," Daniel explained. "It seems the most likely option."

"Ah," she said, watching as the light from the two activated glyphs faded again. "Interesting theory. It does increase the number of permutations..." She paused, thinking. "Then the sequence matters, as well as the grouping."

"Indeed it does, Dr. Markova," Teal'c said. "An incorrect sequence will often result in an inability to reach the destination."

"It is not so simple, then," she said. "I assume the sequence determines which points are connected by lines--ah. Only a certain sequence, with the correct points connected, would be able to form intersecting lines. And so each address must differ by at least two coordinates."

"Uh..." Daniel said, holding up a finger.

"Pretty much," Jack said.

"We've found one exception," Daniel insisted. "But, uh...we can't go there."

"Daniel, what are you talking about?"

"The Ernest Littlefield planet," he said. "It's the same address as Abydos, except with one glyph substituted, but we can't lock onto their 'gate."

"Perhaps," Markova pointed out, "that is because the coordinates were not be correct. That destination cannot possibly be distinct when five of the six coordinates are the same."

"No, we know for sure it was reached at least once," Daniel said, "and we've found written--uh, well, downloaded--record of it. But we think it's been buried or destroyed."

"Hm," she said. "Well. In any case, surely the ones who built the Stargates could have accounted for that. Perhaps the coordinates were encoded that way in order to prevent others from reaching it, believing, as I did, that it was not a possible address."

Daniel hadn't thought of that--and he wished anew that they knew what was on that planet, because it sounded important--but before he could answer, Sam walked back in with Martouf and a cartful of electrical equipment in tow.

"All right," she said. "I brought someone who understands DHDs better than I do to help. Let's get this rigged up."

Jack tapped Daniel on the shoulder as he was watching them place the DHD next to the ramp, out of the line of possible fire, and hook wires to it--"Don't you have work to do?" Jack said.

"Jack," Daniel complained. "We're getting a _DHD_."

"And you can push the buttons tomorrow when you're about to go away and not do your normal work for _four weeks_ ," Jack said pointedly. "We'll call you down if it blows up."

"Right," he sighed. He left reluctantly to finish a last bit of work and contented himself with the idea that he was, in fact, going to be leaving tomorrow for four weeks of real field work that, for once, didn't involve guns or sneaking around.

He did return to the control room for the test dial, though, and he wasn't the only one who cheered when their DHD established a successful wormhole to the Alpha Site.


	11. The Unas

**_22 November 2000; P3X-888; 2000 hrs_ **

It was night when they left Stargate Command but dawn again on the other side. Major Hawkins looked like he wasn't pleased about that but carried on through their second stretch of wakefulness nonetheless. Daniel let Robert give him instructions on what to do until he became restless standing around and waiting for his orders, and then he started setting things up without being told. Robert seemed to prefer that, though, where Jack or Ferretti would have at least asked him what he was doing, even if they might have let him continue anyway.

That was the thing about Robert, Daniel decided as he helped erect a tent. It was about getting the job done, not about power--at least, on the civilian side. He had no problems grabbing the reins when he had a chance to give Hawkins' men orders. In fact--

"Hawkins!" Robert yelled from the other side of the camp. 

Daniel smothered a grin and took a bundle of tarp from Hawkins, who sighed but made his way over to Robert.

"I'm gonna make a water run," Captain Hatley said. "Can you handle this, Jackson?"

"Uh...yeah, sure," Daniel said, setting down his bundle and marking off the perimeter of their site, making sure they had enough material to cover it if necessary. It was cool here--not as cool as back home, with Colorado well into the cold part of its seasons, but while it supposedly didn't rain here often, in the case that it did, no one wanted their dig site to collapse in a puddle of mud.

Later, Robert's footsteps sounded behind him. "Hey, you want to see some of the partial fossils we found before?"

"Hold on, help me finish this," Daniel said, hooking the edge of the tarp onto the poles. With help, he finished quickly and followed Robert away. "How sure are you that they're actually Goa'uld and not some other organism?"

Robert gave him a look that could only be described as condescending and started toward where they'd left things from their first mission here. "I've spent the last three years of my life looking at dead Goa'ulds, Daniel. Couple of live ones, but mostly dead."

"Have you?" Daniel said.

"Well. Starting from the Hathor thing, anyway. What I mean is I know their structure well."

"Those were _baby_ Goa'ulds."

"Still," Robert said. "Same species. And we _have_ seen adult symbiote corpses before, too. Luckily, with some of the Goa'uld our people have killed, the hosts died first, or at least didn't live long enough to break the symbiote down and start absorbing it. So we've seen specimens of mature queen, male, _and_ larval Goa'uld."

Daniel glanced at him but couldn't see anything in his expression but earnest enthusiasm for the project.

"Male?" he asked, rather than disputing the luckiness of the Goa'uld's hosts' deaths. "Queens aside, they're gender-neutral until they take a host."

"Well, it's easier to say than 'gender-neutral,'" Robert said easily. "Here we are." He crouched and carefully uncovered a small area of ground. Daniel knelt beside him to see part of a line of bones left behind in stone. "Okay. This is one of the more complete we've got so far. What do you see?"

"Um..." More used to dealing with human artifacts than with animal remains, Daniel took a few moments to orient himself and figure out what he was looking at, especially with neither end of the Goa'uld visible in the rock. There was something, though, in the way the bones became smaller in one direction, and he knew what a symbiote _should_ look like, so finally, he said, "The tail would go out to about here." He held a finger an inch out from the broken edge of the stone. "Goa'uld skeletons have a lot of joints to be able to fold inside a host, so this one must have died outside its host, judging by how spread the bones are and the conformation of the body."

"Or it probably never had a host," Robert reminded him. "Or got squashed when it died."

"Right. Um." He frowned, leaning lower. "Are these...those are fin bones. But...they're _huge_. They're practically wings. Goa'uld fins aren't usually that big, are they?"

"Not the ones we've seen," Robert said happily. "But see, think about it. As far as we know, the emergence of fins means that they're mature to take a host. But what's the point of that?"

"Launch themselves at a host, maybe," Daniel said. "More lift?"

Robert frowned. "I've never actually seen that happen. 'More _lift_?' How far can these guys go?"

"Surprisingly far," Daniel assured him, remembering Tanith's blending with a shudder.

"Huh," Robert said thoughtfully.

"But once they're inside hosts..." Daniel said.

"My thinking was that there doesn't seem to be much reason for them to have fins when they're riding around in a host. And so why would they have evolved with fins?"

"Because they didn't always have hosts," Daniel said, nodding. "Flying through the air isn't exactly their main mode of transportation. But they're really aquatic organisms, even now, so if they don't have hosts, they need to swim and move on their own, and bigger fins--"

"Exactly. More mobility. And when they _started_ taking hosts, natural selection would have--"

"Smaller fins cause less damage to the host and probably less damage to the Jaffa, if it starts to mature within, which would increase the symbiote's chance of survival. Maybe it even makes it easier for the symbiote to _take_ a host. Which is why these fins are so much bigger than modern Goa'ulds'."

Robert grinned. "This one's name is Servilius Casca," he said fondly.

"Casca," Daniel repeated. "The conspirator against Caesar? Why?"

"Because I found it and I say so."

Daniel shrugged and stood. "If you say so."

...x...

There were always so many things left uncategorized and not understood that Daniel liked things to have some sort of order once in a while. He told himself it was easier to stay organized that way, but it was partly because it was a nice change to have things make sense when he could help it.

So when Daniel found the next fossil--the first entire one they'd found, bones almost completely intact--he named it accordingly.

Working alone for the moment, he brushed away a thin layer of dirt and found himself staring at what looked a lot like bone, and he carefully suppressed the thrill of anticipation and reached for his camera and a sketchpad. Better to document now how far he was in the ground and where he was in relation to everything before he got too caught up, mixed things up, and got scolded.

When the Goa'uld skeleton was mostly exposed, Daniel yelled, "Robert!" Sergeant Loder, nearby, jumped in surprise. "Come _here_!"

"What!" Robert's voice said from the other side of a small hill.

Cupping his hands around his mouth, Daniel called, "I found Brutus!"

"Who the heck is Brutus!"

Daniel sat back on his heels, waiting for it to sink in. "Sorry," he said to Loder at a more normal volume. Loder shook his head and returned to preparing a set of vials for naquadah tests.

And then--"Brutus! You found Brutus!" Robert yelled, his head appearing over the top of the hill. "Wait, wait, don't move, I'm coming!"

"You guys've got radios," Loder pointed out as Robert climbed his way out of a hole and ran toward where Daniel knelt.

"Oops," Daniel said, remembering belatedly that he'd taken to carrying his radio in his trouser pocket to keep it out of the way. As he watched Robert's progress, he added to the sergeant, "Are those the high sensitivity naquadah tests?"

"Yeah," Loder said, leaning over the see the Goa'uld skeleton laid out before Daniel. "Uh...you're probably gonna want the low sensitivity, wide range ones for a symbiote."

"Well...can I have one of both, actually?" Daniel said. He had a hunch, considering how completely lacking in naquadah they'd found the environment to be.

Loder retrieved two vials and handed them down to him. "Brutus?" he said. "Really?"

"It's a...a joke," Daniel said defensively as Robert came around from behind.

"Oh--oh man," Robert said, laughing aloud and plopping into the wide hole with him. "Holy crap. This must be an infant. Look at the fins--the frame is all there, but the inner spines haven't fully developed into hard bone yet. It's beautiful."

"This is Brutus," Daniel said, looking proudly at his find. "Brutus, this is Dr. Rothman."

Robert snorted and held out his hand. "Here, let me see that."

Daniel handed his brush over and watched Robert carefully clear away some loose soil, teasing away a few chunks from between the vertebra with a trowel until what looked like twice as much as before was revealed. "Animals are 3-D, Daniel," Robert said as he worked, "and you know where its bones are supposed to be. A lot of artifacts are gonna be the same way--buried, fragile. Don’t be afraid to go a little deeper and make sure you get the whole thing free, or you're gonna be unpleasantly surprised when you try to pack it up. Did you take notes, observations...?"

"I wanted to wait until you got here to make sure I didn't miss anything."

"Well, go ahead."

Taking a breath, Daniel pressed the REC button on his tape recorder and said, "SG-11, P3X-888 dig site two. Uh...subject is a Goa'uld, estimated--"

"Male," Robert added loudly.

"--a _male_ , uh, immature Goa'uld. Preliminary estimates suggest the fossil is in the approximate range of fifty to one hundred million years old. Um."

"Label," Robert said.

"Oh, uh, it's named Brutus," Daniel said, sounding embarrassed even to himself. "As seen with Casca, the fins are significantly larger than that seen in modern Goa'uld, even when immature, suggesting decreased reliance on hosts for mobility." He took his finger off the button and leaned in closer to the head. Thinking back to the carefully preserved whole skeleton of an adult symbiote that Robert kept in their office, he began to record again. "The fully developed jaw in Brutus is in contrast to the reduced structure seen in modern Goa'uld species..."

"Yes!" Robert said, looking up excitedly. "Right!"

"What?" Daniel said.

"No, no, keep going."

"Uh...the teeth are very long in comparison to...to modern Goa'uld and even in proportion to the rest of Brutus's body. The jaw is apparently capable of opening well beyond a right angle. Contrast this with the smaller teeth in modern Goa'uld, whose angle and position in the jaw seems better suited for...for creating a small opening in the throat tissue of a host, rather than, well, ripping pieces of flesh out for consumption."

Daniel looked for something else to notice, then noticed Robert had stopped digging at the fossilized bones and was watching him. "Are you making that up?" Robert said.

"Uh," Daniel said, taking his finger off the button. "Not--kind of. Well, I was just looking at it and thinking about... And it's just...notes. I can correct it if it's--"

"No, that's good."

"Good?"

Robert nodded firmly. "Good. The biologists mentioned things like that to me, but we'd never seen a complete fossil, so I never said. But you see something, you think it through, you logic it out--that's how we have to do it."

"Right, because we're not paleontologists and we don't _really_ know what we're doing." Robert pulled off Daniel's bandana and used it to slap the back of his head. "Hey."

"We are SGC archaeologists and we are armed with lots of books," Robert said, a little giddy with the excitement of finding a whole skeleton. "Which means we _never_ really know what we're doing, but we do it anyway and it's worked so far. Now--naquadah. Where's that balance?"

Daniel tossed his bandana out of the way as Robert set a scale on even ground, carefully leveling it before he dropped a tiny piece of skeletal remains onto the tray and waited for the numbers to stabilize. "Testing for naquadah," Daniel said into the recorder. "Sample is a bone fragment, mass...about 210 milligrams."

He uncapped one vial and held it for Robert to drop their sample into the liquid. He flicked it gently with a finger, then handed it over.

"What the..." Robert said, swishing the mixture around. The liquid remained a bright blue. "There's no naquadah. How is there no..." He frowned and bent toward the skeletal remains, as if to make sure he'd really picked up a piece of bone and not dirt.

"Try this one," Daniel said, holding out the other vial. "Higher sensitivity."

"That test isn't as good for quantitative data at high concentrations," Robert said.

"The bones are a hundred million years old," Daniel pointed out. "And a lot of the naquadah's probably dispersed in the soil. The concentration might not be what it was when it was alive."

"But not _this_ low. The upper limit is something like 500 nanomolar before it's saturated."

"We're not getting quantitative data if nothing happens, so..." He pushed the vial closer.

Robert took it, then held up the other one. "It's possible there's just a very small concentration," he suggested. "Too small to see the color change by eye. Sanchez has the colorimeter..."

"I'll bring this over," Daniel said, taking the vial with the piece of seemingly-inert Goa'uld bone in it. "Just try the high sensitivity test; if there's naquadah at even half the normal Goa'uld levels, the color change should be immediately obvious, and we can try again with this one."

"We're not running low on reagents, Doc," Loder added, watching from beside them. "You can repeat the test if you need to."

"Yeah, but I don't want to keep picking apart the fossil," Robert said. Finally, he sighed. "Fine, I'll try it. Daniel, take the low sensitivity test for measurement."

Daniel levered himself out of their pit and made his way carefully toward where Lieutenant Sanchez had put most of their instruments. "Lieutenant," he called as he neared the setup. "I have a naquadah test. Is this calibrated?"

"Yeah," Sanchez said, making his way back toward the colorimeter. "You're gonna have to redo the naquadah standards, though. They're in the..." He stopped when he saw the sample in Daniel's hand. "I'm gonna say that's a concentration of zero," he said.

"Robert wants to make sure it's not just too low to see by eye," Daniel said. "It's from a Goa'uld."

" _That's_ not from a Goa'uld," Sanchez said.

Daniel shrugged. "It really is."

Sanchez looked skeptical, squinting at the bone fragment, but shrugged. "All right. The standards are in that kit--just put them back in order when you're done."

It didn't take very long to finish, though, because--

"Negative 0.001 absorbance," Daniel said, handing the vial back to Robert. "I didn't bother calculating the concentration."

"Effectively zero," Robert said, sounding frustrated, then said, "How is that possible? This one, too." He held up the high sensitivity test, saying, "This test should show visible change with as low as one nanomolar naquadah concentration in a sample this size. Loder, are you sure you prepared it right?"

"Yes, Dr. Rothman," Loder said.

"Are you _sure_? There's no way--" Robert started.

Daniel took the vial from him, plucked out a strand of his own hair, and dropped it in. The color shifted immediately from blue to a faint yellow color, spreading as Daniel swirled it. "There's nothing wrong with the test, Robert."

"Whoa. What's your blood naquadah concentration, again?" Robert said, frowning.

"Something like 150 nanomolar the last time Janet measured. And this is hair, which I'm pretty sure should be lower than blood, too, and much less mass than that bone fragment. But even former hosts have blood concentrations about five or ten times that amount--"

"--and symbiotes themselves ten to twenty times _that_ ," Robert said. "So then...we know there's nothing wrong with the test. Which means..." He sat back and stared at Brutus. "We've just found the first Goa'uld without naquadah in its body."

XXXXX

**_6 December 2000; Carter/Martouf/Lantash's Lab, SGC; 1300 hrs_ **

"You should stop this project immediately," Lantash said.

Sam looked up from reading over the reports on the retrofitted death glider that the colonel and Teal'c had just come back from looking over at Nellis. "Why would we do that?"

There was a frown line between Lantash's brows. "Where did you find this vessel?"

"Uh...well, this particular one was flown by an Abydonian woman," Sam explained. "She was the host of Amaunet and escaped Heru-ur's mothership using it, and then once her symbiote was removed, she told Daniel where to find the ship. Why, what's the matter?"

"Apophis is known to program a trap within his...death gliders. The Tok'ra believe this was a direct result of Teal'c's rebellion; now, whenever a glider is flown, it must receive a signal from the mothership or it will be automatically recalled, while the pilot loses total control."

"Really," Sam said, blinking. "I didn't know that. So then...if someone tried to escape, like a rebel Jaffa, then Apophis would know and be able to punish the traitor."

Lantash nodded. "Yes. But if this was salvaged from Heru-ur, it is possible it will be safe to use."

Sam grimaced. "Actually..." She'd been in an Urgo-induced quarantine at the time, so she hadn't heard the story directly. "She and her brother--the host of Klorel--escaped approximately at the same time. I don't know if she took a glider from Heru-ur's or Klorel's mothership...and I assume Klorel's mothership came from Apophis, too."

Lantash dipped his head, and Martouf emerged. "Is there a way for you to find out?" he said. "The program is well-hidden within the death glider's systems, and anyone who was recalled to Apophis's mothership from Earth would die in space long before help could arrive."

"Daniel would know," she said. "SG-11 is due for a check-in any minute; we can ask him then. Actually...if there were a booby trap in here, wouldn't Klorel or Amaunet have been recalled?"

"They were Apophis's kin," Martouf reminded her. "They likely knew of the mechanism, and they may have been able to send the remote signal before they launched themselves."

"That's right. And there's no way to remove the trap?"

"I am sorry, Samantha," Martouf said, looking regretful. "The Tok'ra have heard of this twice. The first time, the operative simply could not be saved. The second time, two were injured attempting to dismantle the mechanism before it destructed itself."

"Damn," she said. "We thought we could just fix a few parts, replace the navigational computers, install a few upgrades, and..." She sighed.

"It is better to know before you tested it, is it not?"

"Oh, well, of course--thank you for telling me, Martouf," Sam assured him. "I'm just disappointed that we might have to stop the project. Why didn't the Tok'ra ever tell us about this?"

Martouf looked almost amused. "The Tok'ra discovered this less than a year ago. Why did the Tau'ri never tell the Tok'ra of such a project?"

Sam made a face, imagining what the colonel would have said in response to that. "Well, it's a good thing you're here, then," she decided.

"I am glad, as well," he said, smiling.

She smiled back. "I'll ask Daniel about the exact circumstances of his sister's escape, and if it's one of Apophis's ships, we'll put a stop to the X-301 project immediately."

"However..."

"What?"

"Even if you cannot use the ship itself," Martouf said, looking over the reports with her, "you can study it in order to learn how to construct one of your own, using Earth's materials. Perhaps I can be of use in that, particularly when you encounter Goa'uld technology that you do not recognize."

"That would be...really great," she said, shaking her head in wonder. Their own Goa'uld-level spaceship!

"I have grown to like the Tau'ri--even Lantash has," he added wryly. "Your people have been good to me, and we would repay by helping to fight the Goa'uld with you."

Sam laughed. "Are you kidding? You've done a lot for us already. I've never in my _life_ worked with someone like you. Do you know how long that program last week would've taken me on my own?"

He gave her one of those uncertain looks, the ones he'd never really worn until some Goa'uld had programmed part of his brain and then they--the Tok'ra and the SGC--had carved it out. "Should--is that something that I should know?"

"N-no," she said quickly. "I mean--it was a rhetorical question." Sam winced and decided to push the science temporarily to the side. "How are you doing these days, Martouf? I'm sorry it's been so busy, but I noticed you've been finding your way around better. Your coordination's improving, too."

Martouf's lips quirked in a not-quite-smile. "Lantash is the one who finds our way. We have learned the color-coding of this base's layout. And we have become more proficient at allowing Lantash to navigate without taking complete control of this body."

"Oh," she said stupidly. "Um. Well..." She stopped, lacking anything to say.

"It is my brain--Martouf's--that is more severely damaged," Martouf said matter-of-factly. "I find myself relying heavily on Lantash's superior cognitive and processing abilities."

"You...you're doing a lot better," Sam said awkwardly, not knowing how to answer that. "I mean...you're still _you_ , which is--"

"I do not wish to complain," Martouf assured her. "But..." He paused, narrowing his eyes. Sam recognized the look of a discussion with Lantash and waited. "If there are those at the SGC willing to become hosts, I--and Dr. Fraiser--believe a blending with Lantash could provide a much more useful and more complete agent."

"What?" she said when she realized what he meant--that Martouf was the one with the more serious cognitive damage, that Lantash was compensating for him, and that another human host could compensate for Lantash's deficiencies the way Martouf's brain couldn't...but... "Are you saying Lantash wants to leave--"

Immediately, Lantash took over, his eyes flashing angrily. "No," he snapped. "Do not listen to Martouf."

"Um," Sam said. Martouf and Lantash were very different personalities, with very different methods, but she had rarely seen them truly disagree on an issue. Usually, they just had different ways of couching the same opinion, and, brash as he was, she had never known Lantash to take control one-sidedly from Martouf. Apparently, he was upset enough about this to do it. "Is he..."

"We are both adjusting to our role," Lantash said, frowning deeply. "I have no intention of leaving Martouf before I must."

Martouf returned with a jolt, looking flustered. "I--" He chuckled uncomfortably. "Well."

"You're adjusting, that's all," Sam said. She hesitated, then asked, "You don't actually _want_ Lantash to leave and find a new host, do you?"

"Of course not," Martouf said. "I merely... It would be a sound strategic decision."

"You're helping us plenty as you are," she said firmly, "and we don't make these kinds of decisions based on strategy alone. Are people treating you okay on base?"

"Very well," he assured her, pulling his composure back. "I think some of them are wary of the idea of Lantash, but they have been courteous. I have found that the friendship of SG-1 is sufficient protection."

"Protection from whom?" Sam demanded immediately, pushing away from the lab bench and ready to stalk out and remind anyone who needed it about the differences between Goa'uld and Tok'ra and the wisdom of staying out of Martouf's way.

Martouf was giving her a real smile now. "Precisely," he said.

She deflated. "I hope you don't feel like you need to help us in exchange for being treated well," she said more calmly. "You're our friend, Martouf. Lantash, too."

"We have come to see you as friends, as well," he said quietly, something odd in his tone. "Particularly you, Samanth--Sam."

Sam looked away and picked up a pair of forceps, cleaning them unnecessarily. "Good." Part of her wished she had the courage to ask whether he meant he liked her as a very good friend, or if he was still seeing echoes of Jolinar in her, or if he saw her as Sam and still saw her as more than a good friend. The rest of her didn't want to ask or to know.

Teal'c's appearance at her door spared her from having to find something to say. "Major Carter. Daniel Jackson has returned briefly for a scheduled report."

"Thanks--I'll be right there," she said, equally eager to see Daniel and to put a stop to this conversation. Teal'c glanced at Martouf and nodded to them both, then left. "Uh, Martouf, I should go and--"

"Of course," Martouf said, smiling again. "I will speak with you later, then."

She was starting to think the smiles and the unusually mild nature, even for Martouf, was something the _zatarc_ device had done to him. There was a voice in her head that whispered that Martouf had lost his edge--not his skill, per se, but the hardness that came with millennia of fighting and had made his firm politeness seem a strength as much as it had been a courtesy. It wasn't that Sam minded that he seemed more relaxed now, most of the time; she just found herself missing the part that had made him a warrior, too, and wondered if Martouf missed it just as much. No one should have part of himself taken away.

"Definitely," she said, starting to leave. "I'll be right back."

He was still Martouf, though, and her strongest memories of him now were her own and not Jolinar's. She'd get to know him again and befriend this one, too. And damaged hippocampus or no, he knew a lot that she didn't.

She reached the 'gate room to see Teal'c, the colonel, and the general all talking to Daniel, who didn't seem to notice a smudge of dirt on his cheek. He was in that kind of mood, wearing an expression that said he'd be waving his arms and babbling if he hadn't been talking to the general.

"--coming through now," Daniel was saying, pointing back toward the Stargate just as a FRED wheeled its way out. "There it is. They should all be labeled already, so--Sam! Hi!"

"Hey, Daniel," she said. "If those are more samples, I'll make sure they get to the right labs."

"Thank you," he said. "Dr. Lee wanted the mineral samples, but Nyan and Dr. Reeve can probably sort out the rest. Oh, and here..."

Sam accepted a box from him and looked inside to find a rack of carefully labeled vials, each containing what looked like a piece of bone. "What's this?"

"Can you ask one of the biochemists to test these samples for..." Daniel started, then stopped and pulled up his sleeve and squinted at something he'd written on his arm. "Hemo--hemo...cyanins. Is that right? Some kind of copper protein?"

She frowned, then realized--"Oh, that's right. Goa'uld blood uses hemocyanins with copper to transport oxygen."

"Yeah, that's it," Daniel said, nodding vigorously. "We just want to check to make sure, because we've seen a few anomalies. They said there probably won't be much protein left, but the metal would be detectable? Um...otherwise...we're okay with supplies. I just wanted to bring Julius--"

"Julius?" Colonel O'Neill repeated.

Daniel pointed back to the FRED. "Julius. He's Robert's. The second complete, primordial Goa'uld fossil we've found. There's some...there's something very, _very_ interesting about these Goa'uld--well, a lot of somethings, actually, but it's really...uh...there's so much to tell you, I don't know where to start."

"It might be easier to tell us all at once when you get back," the general suggested. "It's going well, then?"

"Yes, sir, it's going well. And, actually..." Daniel started moving toward the DHD. "There's so much to do--we're never going to finish. I should get back--"

"All right, son," the general said, chuckling.

"Hey," Daniel said, looking at their DHD setup. "This is new. A shield?"

"It won't stop everything," Sam said, watching him touch the surface of the shields they'd built around the DHD to make sure it stayed relatively safe. "But stray staff blasts or gun shots--it should at least stop most significant damage to the DHD."

He hesitated, looking back at the control room. "Do I just dial, or...?"

"There's an automatic feedback to the control console for records," she told him. "But protocol is to announce it first and wait for word before dialing."

"P3X-888," Daniel called, looking back and up.

Sergeant Harriman returned a thumbs up. _"Destination P3X-888 confirmed. Clear to dial, Mr. Jackson."_

Daniel grinned and turned to the DHD. As he began to dial the address, peering around the shields as if to make sure it was actually making the Stargate light up, he turned back and said over his shoulder, "How's SG-4?"

"Last orientation mission with them is today," the colonel said, looking very happy that they were almost done with training the Russian SG team.

"Where have you been taking them?" Daniel asked, pressing the central DHD crystal and beaming when the unstable vortex shot out. Sam smiled, too. It really _was_ pretty cool, having their own DHD.

"To P5S-381," Teal'c answered.

"Oh," Daniel said knowingly, pushing the unloaded FRED to the bottom of the ramp. "You're making them help the Enkarans rebuild. You should be nice to them, Jack."

The colonel shrugged innocently. "We're just giving them a chance to meet some friendly aliens. And besides, they're gonna be doing stuff like this eventually. Might as well give them a taste."

"That's true," Daniel acknowledged, then hovered at the top of the ramp.

"Wait, don't go yet," Sam said before he could disappear. "I need to ask you--when Sha'uri escaped Heru-ur, did she use one of Heru-ur's ships or one of Apophis's?"

Daniel frowned. "Uh. Let me see. She...went from Heru-ur's ship to Klorel's and took a glider from there. There's a report of mine on file if you want to check, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't Heru-ur's glider. Why?"

Sam sighed. "Apparently, there's a booby trap on those ships. We're going to have to scrap the X-301 project."

"What?" the colonel said, whirling on her.

"The _udajeet_ project?" Daniel said. "Aw...really?"

"I am not aware of such a trap, Major Carter," Teal'c said.

With a shrug, Sam said, "The Tok'ra found out about it a while ago; they think it probably happened shortly after you left Apophis's service, Teal'c. And Martouf just found out about the X-301 project now and told me. Anyway, Daniel--we'll handle that. You should get back."

That seemed to be all Daniel needed to forget all talk of death gliders and perk up again. "I'll talk to you at the next check-in, then. 'Bye!" He disappeared through the event horizon.

Sam watched the wormhole wink away. The colonel was shaking his head. "I will never understand," he said, "how much Daniel likes digging holes in the ground. Where did we go wrong with the kid?"

"I'm sure it's more than the digging, sir," she said.

"And this X-301 stuff," he said. "You trust Martouf?"

Suppressing some annoyance, she said firmly, "Yes, sir, completely. If he says it's too dangerous, I believe him, but he's volunteered to help us build a new death glider from scratch."

"Well, okay. Guess that wouldn't be too bad." O'Neill glanced at his watch and tapped it. "So while Daniel's having his fun, we've got an appointment with our friends the Enkarans. Carter, want to go tell Ivanov and his men to get ready?"

"Yes, sir," she said, heading off to find the new leader of SG-4. The Russian team had been polite and efficient so far, but she was more than ready to put them behind her and go back to SG-1's regular duties.

XXXXX

**_8 December 2000; P3X-888; 1700 hrs_ **

Daniel poked his head inside the tent, saw Robert taking off his boots, and ducked back out. "Are you sleeping outside again?" Robert said once the flap had fallen closed.

"It's nice out here," Daniel insisted. "I have reading to do--I don't want to disturb you."

There was the sound of rustling inside the tent, and then Robert crawled out. "I'm not going to sleep yet. It's brighter outside."

Robert leaned back against a tree and opened his journal to write by lamp- and flashlight. Daniel kicked off his own shoes, moved to share one side of the tree, and opened his book as well.

"So what's up with the naquadah?" Robert said a minute later.

"It's not there," Daniel said. "And it's not anywhere in the environment, either--the soil, the water, the--the plant life..."

"Yeah. What's that about? I mean, that's a thing, isn't it? The Goa'uld have naquadah in their blood, so they go looking for naquadah to build things out of naquadah."

"Apparently not," Daniel said, looking up from his book, "or at least not at first."

"And I don't get it," Robert said, putting down his pen. "How did the Goa'uld _know_ they needed naquadah in their blood to get naquadah-based devices to work?"

Daniel started to say, _'why wouldn't they have known?'_ but then...why _would_ they have known? If the Goa'uld had first been born on this planet, even with genetic memory, all they would have known was this planet and their lives here, and without naquadah anywhere, they would have had no way of knowing how important it would be to their descendants. Even if the primordial Goa'uld had had some other innate attraction to naquadah, the only source of it on the planet was the Stargate and the DHD, both of which were probably out of reach for an aquatic organism, and a symbiote without a host wouldn't be able to dial.

"Are you still with me?" Robert said when he'd been silent for a while.

"Maybe it was an accident," Daniel said, a thought teasing at his mind.

Robert raised an eyebrow in the dim light. "The Goa'uld accidentally, what, injected themselves with naquadah and found out that, whoops, powerful technology works for them."

"No, no, no," Daniel said, closing his book and setting it down so he could turn and face Robert, excited now. "Not injected. How did I get naquadah in my blood?"

"Uh...just...heavy metal accumulation from contaminated water is the theory," Robert said. "Or animals or...maybe you ate rocks as a kid, I don't know."

"But it was by _accident_ , like all Abydons and other people on naquadah-rich planets. Yes?"

Robert glanced over, eyes narrowing. "So...so then, the primordial Goa'ulds are swimming around here, someone walks through the Stargate, a Goa'uld takes a host. It looks into the host's memories, and they go back to the host's planet, which turns out to be naquadah-rich..."

"And over time, naquadah accumulates--maybe it accumulates better in symbiotes than in humans," Daniel guessed, "because symbiotes have the gene that produces that marker protein, and it doesn't get cleared as quickly in the bound form--"

"How fast does it get cleared in humans?" Robert asked.

"Um..." Daniel scratched his head. "My blood levels have decreased over ten percent in the last three years, but apparently it accumulates more in bone, so--"

"But the point is it's very slow but measurable," Robert said. "So a Goa'uld might accumulate it faster and keep accumulating it over generations, especially if they're living a long time..."

"And then they're attracted to naquadah--"

Robert blinked at him. "What? Are you? Attracted to naquadah?"

"Well...not _attracted_...I mean, they can _sense_ it and they realize it's different from other metals. That would make you curious, right, and want to test it more? Maybe they happened to have built something with it, or they found some other Ancient, naquadah-based device, and they started using them and realizing they could _improve_ on them now they had hosts with opposable thumbs and...and engineering capabilities--"

"--and so they kept going to naquadah-rich planets and using slaves to mine naquadah," Robert continued, building on the half-finished thought, "which they used for devices _and_ accumulated in their bodies at the same time--maybe there's even some reproductive mechanism that allows it to be passed from queen to spawn, so that now the larvae _start_ with naquadah in their bodies, or they just figured it out and _then_ started injecting themselves..."

"And that's it," Daniel said. "It's an accident--a coincidence--but only partially, because after one accident happens to get naquadah in their blood, everything follows. And that's how we get from here"--he waved his hand toward the dig site--"to System Lords."

"Whoa," Robert said.

"Yeah?" Daniel said.

"Whoa," Robert repeated. He stared wide-eyed at Daniel for a minute, then said, "You just made that up based on no concrete evidence whatsoever."

"Yeah, but it sounds good," Daniel said.

Robert laughed and picked his notebook back up. "And...geez. You could be right. It's at times like these I really wish we could publish some of the stuff we slave away writing up. You think they'd let us name the animals? They can be... _Goa'uld_..."

" _...praedatorius_ ," Daniel suggested. "Or maybe _Goa'uld rothmanensis."_

"Oh, thanks. Put my name on the predator snake with fangs, why don't you."

"You wanted the parasite snake with floppy vestigial fins?"

Robert made a face. " _Goa'uld praedatorius_ for these guys _._ And the System Lords can be _Serpens foedus_."

Daniel snickered.

Satsfied with their nightly ritual of spitting out whatever was left on their minds after the day's work, he picked up his book again but didn't open it, still thinking about how a host would have gotten to the Goa'uld or how a Goa'uld would have known to take a host, or--

"You're always studying," Robert said while he was still distracted with thinking, looking at the cover of Daniel's book. "Some catch-up course or language certification test or whatever. But nowadays it's all Air Force stuff."

"It's--it's from an Air Force affiliated institution, that's all," Daniel said, hating the defensiveness in his tone and the way his hand moved on its own to cover the title of his textbook, because they were fighting a war and his job was on the front lines, and he wasn't usually ashamed of it except when he was with Robert. "It's still an anthropology course."

"With emphasis on using anthropological skills for the sake of military intelligence."

Which wasn't completely true, but it wasn't enough of a lie that he could argue. He took a breath, then deliberately opened the book to where he'd left off. Nothing he did seemed to be military enough for Jack's liking, and at the same time, it was _too_ military for Robert.

"I-I'm sorry," Robert said. "You're trying to learn stuff when you don't even have to. That's...that's a good thing." He sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

"Hm."

"Really, it is," Robert insisted. "You've basically got a job set for life and you still want to study, even _more_ now that I'm not making you. So...you know. Not the books I would've picked, but I’m not...judging, or--"

"I'm not who you thought I'd be, am I," Daniel said.

He couldn't tell without looking up whether Robert's silence was because Daniel was right or because he was surprised or both.

"I'm not who _I_ thought I'd be, either, if that makes you feel any better," Daniel added, staring at the words _'cultural values'_ on the page and not really wanting to look away. He didn't think he was who his parents had thought he'd be, either.

"Not...really," Robert said.

"Well. I'm sorry--"

"No--god, you don't have to be sorry," he answered immediately. "You just came up with a theory about Goa'ulds and...and naquadah and Stargates in, like, thirty seconds. Just like that. In the middle of reading about...whatever that book's about."

"A theory based on no concrete evidence."

"But see, that's--stop--listen to me for a minute," Robert said, placing a hand over the page until Daniel was forced to look up. "Look, I just hate to see--god, Daniel, your _brain_. Do you even... I know I'm not..."

When he stopped, Daniel raised his eyebrows. "You're not...?"

Robert stared at him for a second, then dropped his gaze to the ground instead. "I was barely out of grad school when they hired me. Barely knew what the heck I was doing-- _still_ don't, most of the time. I'm not...really good with people, and I wasn't ready to be the kind of mentor that you should've..." He sighed. "I dunno."

" _What_?" Daniel said, surprised. "What are you-- _Robert_..."

He shrugged. "Maybe if you'd had the right teacher..." He stopped again.

"What? If, then...what? I'd have turned out right?"

"I didn't say that, geez," Robert said sharply. "All I'm saying is that you make yourself spend so much time on...on marksmanship and CQC drills, I think sometimes you forget how much of an asset you are just on your mind alone. You get that, right?"

"Yes," Daniel said. He rarely wasted time doubting the worth of his brain. "Of course I get it. But Robert--"

" _Listen_ ," Robert insisted. "I can't make someone think like you. You can always pick up the rest. I don't care how you study--books, classes, whatever. You're gonna know twice as much as anyone on base by the time you hit thirty. Don't roll your eyes--it's not that old."

Daniel rolled his eyes.

"I just wish you weren't running around trying to get yourself killed so much of the time," Robert said, coming back to the argument they seemed to have at least once a month these days. "I want you realize how much potential you have. I want you to _make_ it to thirty."

"I'm not trying to get myself killed."

"All evidence to the contrary. You're seventeen and you've been this close"--he held up his fingers next to each other--"to being killed...how many times now? In the last couple of years?"

"That's not my fault," Daniel said.

"Well, sometimes it is," Robert snapped.

And that was true, too.

"I'm getting better about that," Daniel said. "Teal'c says it's a...discipline thing."

"Yeah, well, Teal'c does stupid things sometimes, too," Robert said. "You know the difference is between SG-1 and the primary combat teams?"

"If this is one of those jokes about us," Daniel said testily, "I think I've heard them all."

"Combat teams go looking for fights," he continued anyway. "SG-1 accidentally walks into them, and half the time, _your_ enemies are immune to bullets."

"And before you got this team, two separate SG-11s walked _accidentally_ into a fight. That's _how_ you got this team. At least SG-1 has always come home!"

Robert sighed. Daniel didn't apologize, because he might have been blunt but he wasn't wrong. He also didn't mention that, several times, he'd been surprised to be alive at the end of a mission. "So far," Robert said.

"I like to learn," Daniel said quietly. "And...discovery and all of that. I really do."

"I know. Sometimes you get so caught up in books you even forget the Goa'uld."

"But then...I don't..." Daniel started, then huffed. "I don't know what you want me to say."

"Okay. You like it here," Robert said. "Right? The research missions." Daniel nodded, thinking of Casca and Julius and his very own little Brutus, and the way he could spend weeks here looking at dead Goa'uld and not think about living Goa'uld. "And you're good at it. So I don't get why you refuse to join a team like this fulltime--or at least more often. A little more experience, and you could _lead_ a research team. You love this stuff, and you know it can be just as important to the war as open confrontations."

There were easy answers to that. It was about the people--Daniel would do almost anything for SG-1 and knew they would do the same for him, but it wasn't that simple. Even if they weren't bound together by a history of battle together, he knew he'd fight just as hard for Robert if he had to and that he was one of the few people on base Robert would call a close friend. Then there was the fact that he liked exploring--new planets and lands and peoples--but that answer would be cheating, too, because exploration downward into the soil and back through history, like they were doing here on '888, was just as important as exploration outward. Research teams explored, too, just in a different way.

It was what he usually told people, though, because he wasn't completely proud of the last part of the answer.

"But I hate the Goa'uld," Daniel said, "and it's...not enough to know that what I learn might help other people defeat them. I hate that I hate something that much, so I want to kill them so I can stop hating them. That's illogical, isn't it? But sometimes it feels that way."

He was pretty sure the silence was surprise, this time, or maybe disgust, because he'd come to terms with himself and what he did and why, but learning for the sole sake of war or killing was just about everything that Robert hated about working for the military. Daniel was falling easily into the role of civilian consultant with Jack and SG-1, but when Robert was there to play that part opposite _him_ , he found himself remembering defensively all the reasons why it was a good idea to understand weapons along with books.

"That's healthy," Robert finally said.

Daniel grimaced at the grass under his bare feet. "Not exactly what you were looking for in an academic protégé."

"Not that you don't have...reason to hate them, obviously," Robert said, sounding awkward.

"It's not _just_ that," he added lamely. "We're still hoping to find Shifu. And I'm good at what we do. And SG-1 does research sometimes--Sam and I, we push for it as much as we can. I do want to learn, and that's not just about tactical advantages. But then I remember what Apophis did to...so many people, and it's not enough. I want to _be_ there, looking for...you know."

"On the front lines," Robert said.

"Yeah," Daniel said. "I _need_ to."

Robert sighed heavily and stretched his legs out in front of him. For a moment, it looked like he might say more, but then, he shook his head and conceded, though Daniel was sure the argument would be picked up again later, as it always was. "Well...since I thought at first you were going to transcribe stuff for me and do easy translations, not...all the... You've got stuff to learn, but you're pretty much our best all-purpose interpreter in the field for unknown situations, everyone knows that. And--"

"You get too exasperated with people, Robert, or you'd be better at it, too," Daniel said. "It's almost never exactly the same as any language you know, so it's all gestures and body language at first, and people get impatient and forget that. If you'd just--"

"Daniel."

"What?"

Robert shook his head. "With or without guidance, I thought I was getting an assistant and now I've got a colleague. I can live with that." He stood up, tapping Daniel on the head with his notebook as he passed. "We've got less than two weeks left--I want to make the most of it. Don't stay up too late."

Before he could disappear into the tent, Daniel searched for something to say and found himself calling, "I'm glad you brought me."

"I'm glad you're doing half my work," Robert retorted, crawling his way out of sight.

...x...

**_14 December 2000; P3X-888; 1000 hrs_ **

"I think I found a queen," Daniel said, standing over where Robert was labeling a crate and carefully preparing something for transport. 

Robert's eyes popped wide open. "Really? Where?"

"Back there," he said, pointing. "I left her--"

He'd never known Robert could run so fast.

By the time Daniel caught up, Robert was already cleaning up the fossil with gentle, precise strokes of Daniel's brush. "Look at this," Robert said in awe.

"I know," Daniel said, stepping carefully in next to him.

"She's beautiful." And then he looked up. "Why did you say she was a queen?"

"The size, first--she's much bigger than the males. _And_ ," he added when Robert frowned disapprovingly at him, "this structure on her back doesn't--dorsal!" he corrected when the frown was joined by raised eyebrows. "The, uh...that _dorsal_ structure is different in queens and not-queens to allow for the internal...spawning...stuff. Reproductive organs. There's more severe curvature here and a larger pectoral arch compared with the males. And compared with the modern Goa'uld, obviously--"

"--whose pectoral arch is practically nonexistent or reduced to some vestigial structures. Wow. A whole queen."

"This one's Cleopatra," Daniel said.

"Nice," Robert approved, sitting back and looking down at the curving lines of the primordial Goa'uld fossil. He tilted his head, then suggested, "Cleo?"

"Cleopatra," Daniel repeated firmly.

"Okay, okay," Robert said. "Uh...I should run a quick naquadah test, just to make sure we still get zero. Start taking notes in the meantime."

"SG-11," Daniel said into the recorder. "P3X-888, dig site five. Subject: queen primordial Goa'uld, as evidenced by the dorsal structure and prominent pectoral arch. Again, the subject appears to have been primarily a predator, rather than a parasite--"

"And HSLR test shows zero naquadah for a bone fragment--sample mass: something small," Robert added, then handed him the unchanged, bright blue vial. "All right, finish up here and help Loder pack her up. I've gotta put stuff away at site four, and I'll be back."

"Okay," Daniel said, stuffing his recorder back into his pocket as Robert scrambled out and headed in the opposite direction. "Sergeant Loder!" Loder turned. "We need to put this one away. Her name is 'Cleopatra'...uh, hold on..."

Daniel stepped out, as well, moving to the nearby table where he could bag and label the latest naquadah-less bone sample. Beside him, he could hear Loder preparing the container and the tools they'd need to pack the fossil away--Cleopatra, his _queen_!--and focused on getting his pen to write. Of course, this pen _would_ have to be one that had run dry, so he dug around in his pockets for another, hoping he wouldn't have to walk all the way back to camp just to write ' _no naquadah in this one_ ' on a plastic bag--

Gunshots made him whirl around.

One hand reached down to his thigh for his pistol, but it wasn't there, because there shouldn't be anything to shoot; this was a research trip and there were no enemies here, but _naturu_ , there it was, what in the name of the gods was _that creature--_

The creature barreled into Loder, ignoring the bullets, and Daniel had time to think that this was what an Unas must look like before it slammed into him, too, and his head cracked backward onto the table, _ow, gods, stay awake, get up get up..._

Somewhere in the distance, Robert's voice screamed _"Daniel!"_ and Daniel tried to call back, but his head hurt and his eyes wouldn't open, and his ears were buzzing, and it went black.


	12. The Unas

**_14 December 2000; SGC; 1330 hrs_ **

Jack stormed into the locker room. Teal'c was already there, dressed and staring at SG-2 as if it would make them gear up faster. "Hurry the hell up," Jack growled, looking them over, making sure he knew who each man was.

Coburn was by-the-book, solid, not the kind to take risks, and Pierce was an SGC veteran. Griff would swear first, shoot at the same time, and screw asking questions, but he'd have a good reason for it. Freeman was faster to act and to jump in--too fast, sometimes, but he had experience, and too fast wasn't fast enough this time, not with Daniel already missing for more than _three goddamn hours_ and an Unas dragging him around.

Maybe more importantly, SG-2 had volunteered for the search-and-rescue. Jack suspected they felt bad for being the first team apart from SG-1 to have let the underage civilian get wounded in combat off-world, but if residual guilt made them fight harder now, so be it.

"Ready, sir," Coburn said, and Jack didn't wait another second to push his way out the door, Teal'c's presence behind him and the pounding of SG-2's boots on the floor.

Carter was already in the 'gate room when they arrived, and the event horizon shimmered in the 'gate. "UAV has launched, sir," she said, standing stiffly, only her wide eyes betraying how worried she was.

"Listen up!" Jack barked, stepping to the top of the ramp and squashing his own terror into enough fury to fuel them through what was going to be a long trek and possibly a long fight at the end. "This is going to have to serve as your mission briefing. Daniel Jackson has been dragged off by a creature called an 'Unas.' This is search and rescue. Any questions?"

"Uh--" A familiar and unwelcome voice came from the side door as Dr. Rothman strode in, carrying a vest and pack in his arms. "Yes, I have one. When exactly were you going to tell me when we were leaving?"

Jack was still stuck on the thought that he'd let Daniel leave with Rothman and Rothman had _lost him_ , so he said, very clearly, "I wasn't."

Rothman looked surprised at first, and then just as indignant as he said, "Oh."

But then Jack remembered that Rothman had run, alone, for three hours to get word back to them, so he nodded to Hammond in the control room and included the archaeologist in his glare when he ordered, "Move out!"

XXXXX

**_14 December 2000; P3X-888; ???_ **

Daniel decided that that was definitely an Unas.

He experienced a moment of insanity in which he regretted the fact that this was clearly not a Goa'ulded Unas, because then he'd at least have been able to talk to it. Then he realized that a Goa'uld symbiote must have made the Cimmeria Unas stronger, and even then, according to the reports, Teal'c had kind of--almost--been able to push it around. After it had been shot, anyway.

The point was that this Unas might be less strong. Daniel tested his theory by tugging on the rope the Unas was holding--

Breath fled his lungs as he was yanked forward to sprawl on the ground. "Never mind," he wheezed once he regained enough breath to speak, because it might be stupid to waste his breath on talking, but he was being pulled by the hands behind an incredibly strong monster, and his head was dizzy and pounding, and he had no idea how long he'd been unconscious or where Robert and SG-11 were, and everything hurt from being dragged around even before he'd woken up, so--

"Do you...want to talk?" Daniel said, still panting. "Please?"

The Unas growled, lunging toward him. Daniel curled back up and raised his hands as much as he could over his head. When nothing struck him, he peeked out to see the Unas baring its teeth, looming but not touching him.

_Body language_ , he'd told Robert just days ago. _Gestures_. It was how he'd thrived for years on an alien planet where nothing had been familiar. It was how communication with unfamiliar peoples always started, and at this task, Daniel was the best.

"That's aggressive body language," Daniel informed it, settling back into what he hoped counted as a submissive posture. He was unsteady, he found as he lowered his face, but not dizzy enough to be a problem. "But that was, uh...probably your intention." He turned his head slowly around to see what was behind him--trees--and around them--trees--then turned back to the Unas.

The Unas made a sound low in its throat. Daniel thought it sounded like a trill originating somewhere that might be physiologically impossible for humans to produce.

"Grrr," he tried. The Unas was unimpressed. Trying to work moisture into his dry mouth, Daniel cleared his throat and trilled as low and as far back as he could.

He didn't manage anything past his uvula aside from an odd, gargled sound, but the Unas backed up a step, its eyes opening wide and its mouth forming what, in a human, Daniel would have called an expression of surprise.

Daniel ended in a cough. "I'm thirsty," he said defensively when the Unas narrowed its eyes at him. "And I can't walk this fast and still...have enough breath to sustain that kind of...pressure in my oral tract. I'd try for...epiglottal if I were better rested and...not thirsty."

The Unas blinked at him.

"Can we rest here?" he said, raising his hands slowly, palms down as far as he could turn them while tied so tight his wrists hurt, and gestured down toward the ground. "Rest. _Sa'djiri_. Rest."

The Unas growled again. Daniel growled back. The Unas looked shocked.

Daniel thought belatedly that it might be a bad idea to growl at someone stronger than he while tied up by the hands, aching all over, and unable to see clearly without his glasses. The Unas only tilted its head, though, and stared at him. It reminded Daniel of the way Robert had studied him when they'd first met: like some odd, never-before-seen specimen.

Then he looked back down at his hands, which were not only bound by sturdy rope (one could buy rope on Earth, but they made what they needed on Abydos, so Daniel knew it wasn't simple to make good rope like this) but also fastened with a complicated knot that he wouldn't have thought the Unas's thick fingers could tie, especially with one of its hands bleeding.

"I know you're intelligent," Daniel said, cataloguing the Unas's necklace and clothes. "Why haven't we met before? Oh! Uh, actually, I have friends who'd like to meet you..."

Making sure to keep his eyes slightly lowered from the Unas's stare, he slowly reached a hand into his pocket. As his fingers caught on something and he struggled to pull it out, he said, "It's not a weapon. I'm not threatening you. It's not a weapon."

The Unas leaned slightly closer to him but didn't move to stop him as he finally extracted the radio. He fumbled with the buttons until he depressed the right one.

"This is Daniel Jackson," he said as calmly as he could while his heart tried to pound its way out of his chest. "If anyone can hear me, please respond and"--he glanced at the Unas, who was hovering over him--"um...come shoot my companion. Over."

He released the button and stared intently at the Unas's foot, still bent over. The Unas was starting to growl again. A line of sweat made its way down Daniel's neck.

"Please respond," Daniel said again, and he heard fear rising in his voice, so he took a deep breath and tried again. "This is Daniel Jackson. Over."

_"Daniel! Where are you? Are you okay?"_

Daniel straightened. "Robert! I'm--"

The Unas's knee crashed into his chest, the radio crashed into a tree, and Daniel crashed back to the ground. His captor's face hovered an inch from his own and growled something that probably meant _'shut up.'_ Daniel would have answered, but he was concentrating too hard on making his lungs inflate again and his head stop spinning and his stomach stop churning.

The Unas rose to its feet and jerked the leash. Daniel scrambled up again, struggling to find his footing and horrified at the thought that he might be dragged the rest of the way if he didn't get his feet under him.

...x...

They emerged at the banks of a river and came to a halt. Daniel dropped gratefully to the ground when the Unas crouched by the riverside, still holding the leash but looking like it was planning to rest.

He lay back down flat and closed his eyes for a moment simply to catch his breath.

How had they not known about the Unas here? They'd been here before--in fact, many of them had come right here or nearby to replenish water supplies--and there had been no traces of anything like an Unas anywhere. Surely they would at least have seen something? Did the Unas usually live farther away, and was that where they were going now?

It made sense, though. He and Robert had speculated that some host, perhaps an Unas, had come through the Stargate and been taken as a host. But the hosts hadn't _come_ through the Stargate; they'd already been here and had just _left_ through the Stargate. Why would they have thought, anyway, that an Unas on its own would have figured out how to use a device as complex as the Stargate--

" _...Cha'kaa. Cha'kaa_..."

Then again, Daniel remembered, opening his eyes and pulling himself up to sit, the Unas weren't exactly unintelligent animals.

Now, the Unas was squatting in a posture that reminded Daniel eerily of Teal'c when he meditated, back completely straight and eyes closed with hands resting on the knees...except that, unlike Teal'c in _kelno'reem_ , the Unas was saying something.

" _Cha'kaa_ ," Daniel said aloud, listening closely, because he was starting to understand now--this was a _language_ , and that was something Daniel could work with. " _Cha'ka_."

The Unas stopped, and its--his--head whipped around to Daniel.

"Cha'ka," Daniel repeated, louder. He raised his hands, pointing toward himself. "Daniel." Slowly, he extended his hands toward the Unas. "Chaka?"

When the Unas only continued to stare at him, it struck him that, if _he_ hadn't realized the Unas were an intelligent species, why would the Unas believe _he_ was an intelligent species? Maybe the Unas was surprised that he was trying to communicate, the way he'd have been in its place.

"Not your name," he decided. "Is it--"

A familiar whirr sounded from overhead. Daniel looked up to see a UAV, tempted to jump up and hope someone was monitoring its video feed, but before he could, the Unas leapt to his feet, calling, " _Shesh. Shesh!"_

" _Shesh_ ," Daniel repeated, standing as the slack in the leash diminished. "What is that-- _shesh?_ "

The Unas glanced at him, then back up, pointing into the sky. " _Shesh! Chakaa...keka!_ "

Daniel followed his finger to the UAV, then back to the Unas's face, and suddenly, he realized the Unas was _scared_.

"It's okay!" he said, stepping in front of the Unas and keeping his voice low, as soothing as he could make it while standing in front of an agitated Unas. "They're friends. Well, not _your_ friends, but...it's just a machine. Shh--it's okay."

The Unas didn't look away from the UAV, even as it started zooming out of sight. Hoping to distract it, Daniel held his hands together like a UAV and made a sound that he thought sounded very stupid, but it held the Unas's attention until the UAV was out of sight.

Only when they'd both quieted and the Unas was staring at Daniel did he realize he'd just watched the UAV fly overhead and pass again out of reach. If anyone was watching, he'd missed his chance to be seen.

"I'm going to call you Chaka," he said, because he couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Chaka," Chaka repeated.

"Yes, I realize it's not your name, but it's that or 'the Unas,'" Daniel said. "So tell me now if I should call you something else."

"Unas!" Chaka said, his eyes widening again. He stepped back, and from this perspective, Daniel could clearly see the chin horns that looked only partially grown out.

Remembering Robert's comment about fin spines that weren't fully grown out, Daniel said, "Are you a...an immature Unas? I'm a human. Unas. Human."

Chaka stared at him, then narrowed his eyes.

"I don't mean 'immature' as a derogatory term," Daniel clarified, taking a step back, only to be jolted forward again. " _Ow_. I mean...you're not an adult, are you?"

Chaka growled at him. Since this seemed to be their most productive mode of communication so far, Daniel growled back. Chaka seemed satisfied with this answer and picked up the leash. Daniel moved forward quickly to avoid being jerked, but the Unas only watched him for a moment, then turned and began walking again, tugging gently each time when he slowed.

...x...

By the time they came out of the woods, some lengths down the river, Daniel's head was throbbing, and he wasn't sure whether it was from whatever he'd hit his head on before falling unconsciousness, from tripping and falling too many times, from exhaustion, or from dehydration.

But he could see the river full of water, and in his desperation, he forgot again to be the submissive captive. "Hey," he croaked. Chaka kept walking, apparently used to hearing him talk by now. " _Yakhai! Kree!_ Water! Stop!" When that failed, he dug his feet into the ground, grabbed the rope in his hands and pulled as hard as he could.

This made Chaka stop, turn around, and pull back. The rope slithered through Daniel's hands, and the burning across his palms made him drop it with a hiss. The insistent tugging started again, and, hoping to stop their inexorable movement away from the riverbank, Daniel said something came out as a weak " _Grrr_."

Chaka turned again, tilted his head, and demonstrated a real roar.

Undeterred, Daniel said a firm, "No," and yanked back on his rope.

Chaka yanked him forward hard enough to bring him to his knees with a painful jolt. Then he made a sound that was suspiciously like a snort, and Daniel looked up in surprise to see what could have been a smile.

_Stupid_ , he thought. Who was to say that an Unas's labial movements meant the same thing as a human's?

Still, on a hunch, he stood, gingerly picked up his slack of rope again, and pulled, growling loudly as he did.

This time, he let go fast enough to avoid more rope burn on his palms, and he was only jerked forward, stumbling, though his wrists complained bitterly. Chaka made the same sound again, and when Daniel looked up, he saw the Unas ducking his head, glancing up at him almost timidly between--

\--chuckles.

"A violent rope game," Daniel said, managing a sickly smile when Chaka looked back up at him. "Of course. You couldn't have picked something easier on the one tied up?"

Chaka tugged again, more lightly, then stopped, as if to tell him it was his turn. Daniel huffed in disbelief and reluctantly picked up the rope again, but this time, Chaka started to pull too soon, and Daniel dropped his end just fast enough to make Chaka stumble back against the unexpected lack of resistance.

"You cheated!" Daniel said, indignant before he remembered that he didn’t really want to play this game. Chaka narrowed his eyes. "I know, I cheated, too, but _you_ cheated first."

" _Unas tak_ ," Chaka said.

Daniel had no idea what that meant, but, intrigued, he took in the slight hunch in Chaka's shoulders, the dipping of his head until he was looking up almost tentatively through lowered eyes. Taking a chance, Daniel scowled and repeated sternly, " _Tak_."

To his relief, Chaka didn't seem offended and instead seemed to find the answer--and the variation in the game--clever. This resulted, unfortunately, in more rounds of the game, and Daniel couldn't think of a good way to get Chaka to stop without offense. He was almost glad his hands were going numb and wished his wrists would kindly do the same.

Soon, though, even Chaka tired of it and the insistent tug came again, the one that said he was supposed to follow Chaka to wherever he was being taken.

"No, no, wait!" Daniel called desperately, and maybe the tone was enough, because Chaka stopped and turned around. Daniel pointed his hands toward the water. "Water," he said, then licked his lips and mimed drinking out of his hands. "I need water."

Then finally, Chaka understood and led him to the riverbank.

Daniel dropped eagerly to his knees and lowered his mouth to the surface, only to find Chaka pulling him back by a shoulder. Not in the mood to play more games, Daniel looked up and saw Chaka doing just what he'd been doing before: miming drinking out of his hands.

A definite sign of communication--mimicry, but also clear comprehension and _clever_ mimicry, using the signs that Chaka knew Daniel knew. Daniel wished he had his notebook. That made him wish his hands were free to write and use the notebook, so he held out his bound hands, hoping Chaka was a little stupider than he seemed to be and would untie him.

Unfortunately, Chaka was _not_ that stupid and did no such thing. He did, however, drop the end of the leash to allow enough slack to drink.

Daniel had gratefully gulped a handful of murky water before he registered that Chaka had let go of the leash. The Unas was looking over the river, as if watching for intruders, and Daniel's heart sped up as the prospect of freedom loomed. He just had to get away, and then he could follow their tracks back to camp, meet up with SG-11, and report back to the SGC.

Bent over the bank, he moved his hands back down as if to scoop more water--

\--then yanked the leash away and leapt to his feet, sprinting away, back into the woods.

But the woods looked the same in one direction as they did in another. Without his glasses, he could barely see the branches whipping out at him from all directions and the brush he was tripping over, much less any tracks. And Chaka was roaring-- _oh gods_ , he was angry, and Daniel's legs found strength to run and run and run, until--

He stepped out of the woods to find himself farther again down the river.

There was nowhere else to go except back to the woods or across the river, and he could swim well enough to pass Jack's minimum requirements, but he wasn't a strong swimmer even when his hands weren't tied and his lungs and limbs weren't screaming for him to stop. Better to rely on the ground.

Then, rustling made him turn to see Chaka run out just behind him.

Running wasn't an option anymore. Between an Unas and swimming...

Daniel stepped into the river, breathing fast as much from fear as from the run. Chaka started to follow, then shied back, away from the water.

Were Unas afraid of water?

Daniel took a deep breath and kept going, backing into the water and trying not to lose his nerve when the cool water rose above his knees and reached his waist.

Then the ground dropped out from under his feet, leaving him to plunge into the water.

The shock didn't hit him until his head dipped underwater, and then he panicked. He kicked up as hard as he could, but without his hands, and wearing his boots and gear, he only reached the surface long enough to sputter for a tiny mouthful of air before his own weight pulled him back down, and every time he moved his arms, he was only pulled down more.

With every instinct telling him to go back, Daniel pressed his lips together and pushed forward, up, forward, knowing there was a shore on the other side, and he just had to reach it before he drowned.

Another brief moment at the surface--but he opened his mouth too soon and choked. His legs kicked frantically against the water to bring him to the surface while his brain urged him to go forward _forward_ and he forced himself not to open his mouth, even when he felt himself trying to breathe.

And then his mouth opened and the river water _hurt_ , searing into his lungs. He couldn't breathe, and now every fiber of his body was telling him to breathe again, no matter where he was, and he tried, even knowing he was in the water, he _tried_ , and his throat wouldn't open, but his mouth did, and oh _gods_ , he was going to die at the bottom of a river running from an Unas because he'd only learned to swim just well enough to pass SG-1's requirements, and--

Something brushed past him. Still flailing to reach air, to get across, to _breathe_ , Daniel felt his hands push something aside, and the something _pushed back_ , nudging, nipping sharply at his shoulder, his neck, and what was that thing, there were _teeth_ , and he couldn't see--he couldn't breathe, he couldn't see, he couldn't _move move move_...

And then the thing's teeth were gone, and a hand closed around his arm with crushing strength and yanked him up.

Daniel felt himself being dragged through the shallows and thrown to the ground, and he didn't care who or how or where, but there was _air_ and a ground, and he lay trying to suck in a breath, but it was like his throat had closed and he still couldn't, couldn't breathe--

" _Ka! Ka keka!_ "

Something lifted him up from the back and slammed him back to the ground, a hard pressure pounding onto his back as he crashed back down. Daniel jerked as air flowed though his throat, then coughed water and retched more water and choked on that until a hard grip pulled him up, flipping him over onto his side and holding him in place as his body convulsed miserably and tried to expel everything that could possibly be inside him.

Then he was shaking and too tired for the coughs still ripping through his throat, cold and faint from not breathing and then breathing too much.

Chaka's face dropped down next to his and roared, " _Ka! Tak!_ "

Daniel dragged in another breath and let his eyes fall shut, exhausted. The hand on his arm tightened until he opened his eyes again.

Chaka's other hand was holding something near Daniel's face. It took a moment to focus on the squealing thing, but finally--

"No," Daniel choked, struggling against Chaka's grip as a Goa'uld symbiote squirmed in front of him. " _Onak--na nay!_ "

The Goa'uld was whisked away, out of sight, and as Daniel's lungs tried to empty themselves of more water, he imagined Chaka holding the squealing symbiote at his neck, no _no_... He pulled again against the hand holding him in place, trying to stop coughing and crawl away--

There was a sharp crack, and the squealing stopped. Chaka pulled him roughly to flop flat on his back, and he squinted up blearily to see the Unas holding a dead symbiote, one half in each hand with thick, blue blood dripping from the rent ends.

" _Ka_ ," Chaka growled, pointing at him with a twitching Goa'uld tail.

"N-no," Daniel said faintly between gasps. " _Ka_. _Ka._ No."

" _Onak_ ," Chaka said, pointing out over the river with a Goa'uld head.

Daniel turned his head and looked, and as he watched, he saw something snake-like leap into the air, another shape behind it, until they both landed back in the water with a splash and the waters churned furiously.

A feeding.

The primordial Goa'uld were predators, but these were parasites, too, and they were aquatic organisms. They were still here, not extinct but out of sight in the water, but the Unas knew and stayed away. And Daniel, thinking he'd learned so much about the primordial Goa'uld, had waded into their water and almost lost himself.

" _Onak_ ," Daniel heard himself say. "Goa'uld."

Chaka held half of the dead Goa'uld to his face. Daniel would have flinched if he'd had the energy. " _Keka_ ," Chaka said.

" _Kek_ ," Daniel said. There were Goa'uld words in this language. He cleared his throat and latched onto that thought, that they were communicating and he understood. " _Keka._ Death. _Onak k-keka_."

" _Ka!_ " Chaka grabbed him by the chin, then dragged the bloody end of the symbiote across Daniel's cheek. " _Onak_ ka _keka! Unas ko keka onak!_ "

" _Ko_ ," Daniel said, once his face was released. " _Ko keka_. _Ko keka_...'give death.' Goa'uld not...kill. _Onak ka keka Daniel_. _Unas ko k-keka onak._ "

Perhaps it was the full sentences, but that made Chaka stop, rearing back. Daniel rolled himself back onto his side and vomited again, fighting the desire to wipe the thick Goa'uld blood from his face. He had disobeyed. He had cheated. Chaka had saved him. Now Chaka could mark him as he wished.

Those were the rules.

Chaka pulled on the rope. Daniel felt himself slide bonelessly along the ground, scrabbling weakly at the rope and the ground to push himself to his feet. Chaka growled and pulled harder. Daniel found his way up, staggered forward, caught the rope, swayed, stayed upright.

He'd play by the rules. It wasn't surrender, he insisted to a disapproving voice in his head that said that _they never stopped fighting_ ; it was survival.

Daniel had gotten another chance. Chaka had saved him and marked him. Every second he was alive was a chance.

XXXXX

**_14 December 2000; P3X-888; 2230 hrs_ **

"They came this way," Teal'c said, bent over tracks on the ground.

Jack's anger was fading, leaving fear to start settling into his stomach. Three of SG-11 were dead, Hawkins was so screwed up he didn't even know Loder was dead when he was standing next to the body, and Rothman was running out of steam, even if he wasn't saying it. Carter had to notice his wheezing first and say, "Sir, I think we should rest."

It took a reminder that the flagging archaeologist was freaking out about Daniel just like the rest of them and might know something about the terrain for Jack to agree. "All right, go to ground. Boots on, no fire. I'll take first watch."

As they walked toward the woods to set up camp, Teal'c joined him at the river's edge and said, "Did you see the tracks, O'Neill?"

"Yeah," Jack said, looking at the sets he'd labeled 'Unas' and 'Daniel.' "They were both here."

"The tracks indicate a flight. Daniel Jackson's footprints lead into the river. The Unas did not follow directly but most likely pursued by means of a land bridge not far from here."

Jack nodded stiffly. "I noticed that."

Teal'c didn't move.

"He can swim," Jack said.

"Daniel Jackson has told me that--"

"He made it across," Jack snapped, and sat down to watch over his people.

Teal'c stared down at him. Jack waited for him to point out that Daniel had grown up in a desert, the kind where they were lucky if yearly floods brought the nearest river waist-high, that Daniel had learned to float in a pool and could make his way comfortably from one side to the other because Jack had made him learn enough not to be afraid of deep water...but after walking for hours at this pace, not to mention who-knew-what injuries he might have, and with an Unas in pursuit...

"We will rest tonight," Teal'c said finally. "We must increase our pace in the morning and be prepared to render aid when we find Daniel Jackson."

"Yeah," Jack said, grateful for the pragmatism and not wanting to imagine what state Daniel would be in when they found him. He found he couldn't care much at the moment, as long as that state wasn't 'dead.' "Go _kelno'reem_. We're going to need your strength when we catch up to the Unas."

Teal'c disappeared into the woods.

He checked his watch. They'd been on the planet two hours when they'd gotten a frantic voice on the radio, which had been maybe six hours ago, and Rothman had made the run from the dig site to the SGC in three hours...

Too much time. They were too far behind.

Rothman said night here was short in this season--it'd be dark for about six and a half hours. Hawkins hadn't confirmed or disagreed, but Hawkins couldn't confirm his own first name right now. Six hours. They'd be up and on their way as soon as the sun came out again.

XXXXX

**_?? December 2000; P3X-888; ???_ **

Daniel wondered if he was going to throw up again. His stomach assured him it was willing to do so, despite having thoroughly emptied itself at the river. His head threatened to fall off if he moved another inch. His brain thought he should move and not sit shivering and wet against the wall of a cave. He told his brain to shut up.

Chaka wasn't holding his leash anymore or even sitting close by as he flicked sparking stones together and coaxed a fire to life. Daniel tried to imagine grabbing his leash, getting up, and running. His imagination didn't get past the 'getting up' part. He supposed Chaka knew that.

In the end, he didn't have a choice. Chaka threw wood onto his fire until it was strong enough that Daniel was considering crawling toward it, just a little. He'd just unfolded his legs from in front of himself and was starting to think about how to get up without moving his back too much when Chaka walked toward him, picked up his leash, and pointed to the fire.

"Yeah," Daniel rasped through a throat that still felt raw. "I was just thinking that." He hoped Chaka would drag him over.

" _Ka cha_ ," Chaka said, tugging with a force that was probably gentle for an Unas. Daniel fell over and reflected that he was about half a body-length closer to the fire now.

Chaka grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him upright, then half-carried him to sit next to the fire. Daniel leaned close to the wonderful heat and closed his eyes, thinking that falling asleep right here wouldn't be so bad, even though he knew it _was_ a bad idea.

But leaning close made him smell something far too familiar, and he peeled open his eyes to discover that roasting Goa'uld symbiote flesh smelled a lot like burned human flesh.

Nausea was rearing its head again. He hoped Chaka wasn't cooking the Goa'uld because he wanted to eat it. Of course, there weren't many other reasons to cook a Goa'uld.

" _Nan_ ," Chaka said, tossing the symbiote's head at his feet.

Daniel stared at it. ' _Onak_ ' was the same in the Unas language as it was in the Goa'uld, and Chaka wasn't there to give him vocabulary lessons, so ' _nan_ ' was probably an order. And since the symbiote head had just been cooked...

"Not hungry," Daniel said. He leaned back and was glad to find a wall behind him. " _Ka. Daniel ka nan._ " He was still thirsty, though, which was ridiculous after he'd almost drowned himself.

Stupid. He should be thankful Chaka had saved him.

Chaka didn't like that answer. He picked up the symbiote head and held it close to Daniel's face, where its scent wafted unfortunately close to Daniel's nose. " _Nan!_ " Chaka repeated.

Daniel tried to take a breath to repeat his answer and choked on a cough instead, his chest still aching and his throat still remarkably dry for all he'd done to drown himself today. When he recovered and looked up, the symbiote head was on the ground and Chaka was gone.

A sudden, irrational panic swept over Daniel at the thought of being left here alone, bound and tired, without Chaka to watch over him. It wasn't until Chaka's reappearance in one of the tunnels brought a sense of relief that he realized he'd never even entertained the notion of running and had thoroughly mixed up something in his priorities and alliances.

"Not," Daniel told Chaka, "that I'd have gotten far, anyway."

Chaka gave him one of the narrow-eyed looks that seemed to mean he was trying to understand what Daniel was talking about.

"Never mind," Daniel sighed. "Where were you? _Kel_?"

In answer, Chaka held out his hand, which was holding a small stone bowl. "You made that? It's nice," he said, then saw the water inside. "Is that for me? Please say it's for me."

" _Ko_ ," Chaka said, pushing it toward him.

Daniel raised his hands to accept it as well as he could with no slack in the rope and his hands cold and almost unfeeling by now. One of Chaka's hands stayed around the bowl. "I'm not really comfortable with this," Daniel said before he tried to take a sip. "Are you going to eat me later? Because if you are, this is a very odd--"

The bowl was lifted to his lips. Daniel grabbed it tight to make sure it didn't tip back too fast into his mouth and start choking him again. He'd had enough of that for one day.

The water disappeared before he could take a second sip. He heard himself actually whine when Chaka pulled it away and set it down out of reach. Chaka whipped back around and growled disapprovingly at him for being a baby. Daniel shut up.

But then the symbiote head was back. " _Naan_ ," Chaka insisted, picking up the other half of the symbiote and biting a chunk off.

Daniel grimaced and picked up the hot, roasted head, noting that the jaw structure of this one was much closer to modern Goa'uld than what they'd seen in the fossils. It had the same eyes as the System Lords, though, and they were staring at him, so he turned the symbiote head around and looked at the ripped end instead, which wasn't much of an improvement.

"If I weren't so appalled at the thought," Daniel tried to explain to Chaka, "I'd be interested in the symbolism--the Goa'uld have preyed on people like us for years, and now you eat Goa'uld."

Chaka spat out what looked suspiciously like the vestigial pelvic spurs of his symbiote.

"Right," Daniel said, staring. "Or, I guess you're just hungry."

" _Dan'el nan!_ " Chaka snapped, then pointed at the bowl of water, as if to say he'd given Daniel some water and now he expected to be obeyed.

Follow the rules. New situation, new people, new rules. Daniel was good at adapting. He just had to try harder, that was all.

It was just an animal, really. Daniel had eaten many different animals. That he could potentially have had a conversation with this one didn't mean anything. Why should it? It was dead and even already cooked. Right now, it was just meat.

And...the longer he stared at it, sitting by the fire in a cave with Chaka, the more intrigued he was. There was something perversely tempting about it--not the meat itself, because his stomach had wrung itself out too much to be hungry, but the idea. What was more powerful than actually _eating_ someone to signify dominance? And okay, it was kind of horrifying, too, but still, it was a pitiful god who could be caught, roasted on a spit, and fed to a pet.

"I don't suppose you know the story of King Unas of Egypt?" Daniel said. "The part about eating the gods, and...you know..."

" _Ka_ ," Chaka said, looking confused. " _Unas?_ "

"Of course not." He took a breath and raised the back of the symbiote head to his mouth. "Well, so much for gods," he said, feeling lightheaded and brave and disgusted, and bit off a piece.

As it turned out, the roasted symbiote head was perhaps the most revolting thing he'd ever tried to force down his throat. He forced another bite down, anyway, and tried very hard not to gag.

"Mmm," he lied, shifting his seat to find a polite way to put the Goa'uld head down.

A crinkling sound came from his pocket as he moved.

" _Ih_ ," he said, remembering he had food with him, too. He put down the gnawed symbiote head and reached into his pocket to pull out a squashed power bar. Chaka put down his symbiote tail and watched curiously as Daniel peeled back the wrapper. " _Nan_ ," he said, holding the power bar to his nose and sniffing it. "Mmm."

" _Ka_ ," Chaka scoffed in disbelief. Daniel pushed the bar toward him again. Still, Chaka only poked it with a claw, then repeated, " _Ka nan_."

Daniel picked up the symbiote head and determinedly ripped another tiny piece off and swallowed it, imitating the way Chaka moved his head as he ate, mostly because it helped him avoid the taste buds on his tongue as the meat was tossed down his throat. " _Daniel nan onak_ ," he said, then took a bite out of the power bar, hoping it would wash the taste of Goa'uld away. "Mmm," he said more sincerely, then offered it to Chaka. " _Unas nan_...uh, chocolate?"

Chaka took the power bar. Daniel finished chewing and watched as the Unas licked the bar and ripped a cautious bite from it.

A rumbling noise came from Chaka's throat. Daniel wondered if he'd made a mistake--or maybe accidentally poisoned his new friend--but then Chaka took another bite, and he realized he wasn't the only one trying to imitate sounds.

"Mmm," Daniel repeated, pointing to his sealed lips and indicating the direction of airflow through his nose to make the sound. " _Mmm_."

"Rrrr," Chaka answered, some kind of trill deep in his mouth.

"That's close enough," Daniel decided, then settled back against the cave wall to let the fire dry and warm him.

...x...

The sound of crinkling plastic woke Daniel from his doze. He started, but, seeing Chaka swallow the last bite of power bar and discard the wrapper, decided that it hadn't been long.

"Don’t litter," Daniel scolded him sleepily, because they weren't supposed to leave Tau'ri garbage to contaminate the local environment any more than they had to. He leaned forward to pick up the offending trash.

It wasn't until Chaka picked up another stray piece of plastic and pressed it into his hand that he realized he'd fallen asleep next to the Unas who had tied him up, dragged him around, and fed him a Goa'uld and was now helping him pick up garbage.

"Thank you, Chaka," Daniel said, awkwardly stuffing the whole bundle of plastic into his pocket.

His fingers brushed against something else, though, and he recognized the feel of buttons on the side of his tape recorder.

"Can I get up?" he asked, even as he began to stand. Chaka stiffened, snapping alert. Daniel stopped, halfway upright, and held out his hands, lowering his head.

Chaka eyed the end of the leash, then deliberately put it down on the ground and turned to sit facing the fire.

Daniel's footsteps echoed in the cave, but he didn't try to quiet them. Chaka knew where he was, and they both knew he wasn't going anywhere. The cave, though...this must be why no one had noticed the Unas in the initial planet assessment. He made his way toward one of the tunnels, the farthest he could see by the light of the fire, and found scratchings on the wall.

"Wow," he said aloud, then reached into his pocket for his tape recorder, this time pulling out the waterproof, plastic bag where he'd been keeping the recorder, along with a small brush and a pair of forceps he hadn't had the time to put away, back at the dig site.

He pretended he wasn't aware that he'd probably never use the brush or forceps again and stuffed them back into his pocket, just in case.

The first figures he saw on the wall showed what looked like an illustrated life cycle of a parasitical Goa'uld. Daniel thought even the biologists on base would be impressed. Making sure to keep his voice even, he began to record.

"P3X-888. This is Daniel Jackson. I don't know how much time has passed and my chronometer is broken...so, uh, I think it's December fourteenth or fifteenth, 2000. I'm in a cave with an adolescent Unas. Un-Goa'ulded. Male, I think, if those gender labels are valid for this species."

Chaka looked up. Daniel ducked his head until Chaka turned back to watch the fire.

"I'm calling him Chaka. I don't think that's his name, but he doesn't seem to mind, and I can't figure out what the word means or why he says the word, and I'm not about to wait and let Jack name him. Not that you'd probably name him, Jack, but...anyway.

"Chaka's very intelligent. He talks and responds to my attempts to communicate and has even engaged in what I think was a game with me. I've only learned a few of his words so far, but we're getting to know each other through that and a lot of, uh, demonstrative body language. If...if you find this, Robert Rothman, remember what I said about communicating without knowing the spoken language. It's been really helpful in this case."

Daniel paused. If he thought of this as a last recording--if he started thinking that way--it would be bad for his state of mind if he tried to escape. Still, just in case...

It was a matter of collecting data. Eventually, when the UAV didn't show anything, the rest of his team would know he was missing. They'd come looking for him, and at least this way, they wouldn't lose valuable data, that was all.

" _Ka_ ," he said, "means 'no.' _Unas_...well, 'Unas.' _Nan_...'eat.' _Keka_...'death.' _Onak_...'Goa'uld.' _Ko_ is give, and _ko keka_ is 'to kill,' but the negative of that seems to use ' _ka keka'_ instead of the full _'ka ko keka_.' It's also possible _ko_ acts as a...an affirmative particle of some sort. _Kel_ is a question. _Tak_ is something he says when I try to cheat or break the rules. Oh, uh...neither vowel length nor glottalization seems to be contrastive, but that's based one a word that I don't even understand-- _chaka_ \--so I could be wrong.

"Note the lexical similarities to Goa'uld. With the difference in morphological complexity and the strict SVO sentence structure that Chaka uses, the Unas and Goa'uld languages are probably genetically unrelated, but they certainly influenced each other. This relationship is supported by how well the Unas understand Goa'uld society and biology, which may be the reason why the un-Goa'ulded Unas live in caves, away from...water...oh."

On the wall, there was a drawing. The drawing was not ambiguous.

Eyes fixed on it, Daniel cleared his throat. "There are other pictures on the wall. I think Chaka is undertaking a ritual--maybe a rite of passage--which explains why he's dragging me everywhere and making efforts to keep me alive and mostly unhurt, instead of killing me outright--"

A shadow fell over the wall, and he whirled. "Chaka," he gasped, surprised at the sudden proximity.

" _Wok tah_ ," Chaka said, pointing to Daniel.

Daniel raised the recorder. "I don't know what that means," he said. "But now he's calling me that, even though he's called me an approximation of 'Daniel' before--"

Then Chaka grabbed him by the shoulder and pressed him against the cave wall. " _Wok tah!_ " he growled into Daniel's ear, and then a sharp claw pierced his cheek, dragging a line down Daniel's face.

" _Ka!_ " Daniel cried, struggling to pull himself away. " _Ka, Chaka!_ "

He was released, and he leaned against the sturdy wall for a moment until the sting started to fade and he heard a scraping sound. Looking up, he saw his own blood smeared on the wall. Chaka's body was in the way, and he was still scratching something, so it wasn't until after he backed off that Daniel could see what the picture was.

Swallowing hard, he said aloud, the recording still active, "Th-there's a picture of an Unas dragging another figure--probably a human--next to a streak of my blood. I think ' _wok tah_ ' means 'sacrifice.' Or, you know, 'future murder victim.' Something like that."

" _Dan'el wok tah_ ," Chaka said, bringing his face close to Daniel's and huffing once before he returned to sit by the fire.

"See," Daniel said once he'd stopped being too petrified to speak. "He knows my name."

He slid down the wall until he was sitting. "Whoever finds this, don't get caught. And. If you do, don't get in their face and threaten them, and don't run into the water, because there are Goa'uld there, and Robert, you know there's no naquadah in them, so no one can sense them.

"I hope you find this. Or not, because it's kind of morbid, but...actually, I hope you do, because there's data on Cleopatra and Julius on this recorder, too. Chaka and I are friends. Don't roll your eyes, Jack. He's never seen a human before. I mean, he wants to kill me, but we're working on that. And I ate half a Goa'uld head, and he ate my chocolate, so I don't know what that means, but it has to be a good thing, the, the...the trading. He pulled me out of the river and gave me a vocabulary lesson. Please don't kill him. He has a sense of humor. It's kind of weird. I'm starting to ramble. I'll leave this here. Maybe you'll find it. Um. That's it."

Daniel stopped the recording and set it on the ground.

Next to the recorder, he found a small, sharp rock, and he looked up thoughtfully at the wall. Pushing himself to protesting feet, he checked to see that Chaka wasn't paying attention and carefully began to scratch a message onto the wall.

Eventually, whether it was in a day or a week, SG-1 would find this cave. He had to give them something to find.

XXXXX

**_15 December 2000; P3X-888; 0400 hrs_ **

When the sun came up, Teal'c said, "Come no further. These waters abound with Goa'uld. Any of you who has ventured near the edge may have been compromised."

Jack's first thought was that SG-11 were all idiots for calling this planet clear of hostile activity. Then he remembered SG-11 was all dead or traumatized or freaked (or _Goa'ulded_ , apparently, god, how did you miss something like that?) and didn't say it aloud.

"Bind their hands and feet tight with those," Teal'c said, tossing a bundle of cable ties at Jack's feet. "I will then do the same to you, O'Neill."

"Oh, come on," Griff barked, "we don't have time for this!"

Jack wanted to agree, but Carter said sharply, "Enough, Captain. There's no other choice. Colonel, Teal'c's right--he's the only one we can be sure of, including you and me."

She looked deadly serious. Jack bent and picked up the cable ties, then made his way angrily down the line, starting with Pierce as Teal'c held his staff weapon ready.

"Colonel," Rothman said when it was his turn, even as he sat down and held his hands out to be bound, "I'm not a Goa'uld. And Daniel's still out there!"

"I know he is," Jack snapped, pulling the restraints tight and moving on to Hawkins. Hawkins was showing the first signs of life beyond walking since they'd found him. Jack glanced up at the man's face, saw anger smoldering in his eyes, and added a second restraint to his wrists. Griff looked pissed, but Griff often looked pissed.

It was Carter who made him pause, her expression so full that he could barely separate out the _'it's-okay-I-understand'_ from the _'oh-god-Daniel._ '

Jack finished, plopped down next to Carter, and tossed the rest of the ties to Teal'c. "My turn," he said resentfully. As Teal'c crouched close to tighten the ties around Jack's hands, he whispered, "I'm telling you, it's gotta be Hawkins."

"Trust in me, O'Neill," Teal'c said calmly, the Teal'c-calm that meant he was ready for battle.

Still annoyed, because he knew he didn't have a snake in his head, Jack said sarcastically, "What if I'm not O'Neill?"

Teal'c looked into his eyes. "Then I was not talking to you."

"Teal'c--"

Teal'c stood and looked down at him.

"You'd better find him," Jack said.

In answer, Teal'c said, "I will begin immediately."

As the Jaffa ran away, leaving them trussed up like animals to be slaughtered, Griff pointed out, "What if one of those Unas come by? What do we do then?"

Carter snapped out again, "Teal'c didn't have any other choice, Captain!"

"Yeah?" Griff scoffed. Jack didn’t call him on insubordination, mostly because he kind of agreed.

"This is ridiculous," Rothman's voice said. Jack glanced over and saw him squirming, obviously uncomfortable in the restraints. He hoped the man didn't need his inhaler anytime soon. That could get awkward. "I'm not a Goa'uld!"

Jack rolled his eyes. "Well, then why didn't you just say so? We could've straightened this whole thing out."

"So which one of you is it?" Hawkins spoke up for the first time in hours.

"All right," Jack called, resigned now to sitting here until Coburn and Freeman got their butts over here and dragged them all back to the SGC. "Anybody with a snake in their head raise their hands!"

There was a snapping sound.

Hawkins raised his hand.

Jack stared at the man, realizing belatedly that this was a very, very flawed plan. Hawkins leaned forward and easily ripped apart the restraints around his ankles, then stood slowly, eyes glowing.

"Damn," Jack said, looking around and wishing Teal'c hadn't taken off so fast. Hawkins was making his way toward their pile of weapons. "Uh...Teal'c!" Hawkins bent down, picked up a P90 and aimed it at him. "Teal'c!" Jack yelled, turning his head in the direction his friend had run off. " _Teal'c_!"

Two staff blasts sounded. Hawkins' eyes glowed bright again, and the gun dropped from his hands as he fell to the ground.

Jack tore his eyes away from the dead man--Goa'uld--in front of him and saw Teal'c approaching from the woods. "Well, that took you long enough!" Jack called, relief and shock at Hawkins' death both helping to refuel his annoyance.

"You are welcome, O'Neill," Teal'c said, crouching to cut Jack's restraints. "I knew if there was a Goa'uld among you he would be strong enough to free himself."

"You had to wait long enough to make to make sure Hawkins wasn't the only one," Carter said in understanding as Teal'c began to free her.

"Are you satisfied now?" Griff said, a little less pissed off than before.

Teal'c smiled briefly at Carter and cut Griff loose. "I am," he said unapologetically.

Jack stood and picked up his gun as he heard Rothman's voice said, "I'm glad that's over with."

He moved away from the pile to let Carter retrieve her weapon, then checked to make sure his gun was loaded and ready to fire before starting to loop it over his shoulder.

Then a wordless, Goa'uld roar sounded, and Jack whirled around to see Rothman knock Teal'c away and grab the staff weapon, his eyes glowing. Griff was just turning around at the commotion when a staff blast hit him.

Jack had time to think _Goa'uld-armed-man-down_ before he aimed and squeezed the trigger.

Dr. Rothman tumbled backward. His eyes flashed once more before he died.

XXXXX

**_?? December 2000; P3X-888; ???_ **

Chaka spent hours staring at Daniel while Daniel sat under the words he'd scratched on the wall and carefully didn't stare directly back, aware of the constant scrutiny but knowing better than to answer it. And then, Chaka went to sleep.

Daniel had thought, at first, that it was some kind of meditation, maybe even a ritual thing--perhaps one had to meditate before killing one's _wok tah_ \--but then he heard a snore and realized his violent friend-murderer was sleeping.

Daniel rubbed his gritty eyes and leaned his aching head back against the wall. He was exhausted. He should sleep, like Chaka. But he really shouldn't--the SGC would tell him not to. He didn't think Chaka would kill him in his sleep, though. Chaka wouldn't do that to him; it would be like cheating.

He'd been left unguarded, and he was pretty sure it was mostly because Chaka liked him, but still, Chaka was an Unas who had marked him for death, and Daniel shouldn't be thinking it was friendly that he'd been left to wander instead of being tied down somewhere for the night.

Jack said he was always supposed to resist. _Obligated_ to resist, especially since he couldn’t pretend anymore that Chaka was planning anything other than to kill him. The only question should be whether to comply enough to survive longer or to choose this moment to fight. Now that Chaka was asleep, shouldn't he try?

The Unas was sleeping. There was a rock at Daniel's feet. It looked heavy. He picked it up. It _was_ heavy. He didn't think he'd be able to kill an Unas, but he might be able to give one a concussion, and Daniel was pretty sure he could outrun a concussed Unas. He tried to stop his hands from shaking as he raised the rock over his head and stood over his friend-- _captor, murderer; not friend._

But Chaka would call ' _tak_ ' because he'd cheated. Tricky, and not in the good, clever way, because he'd broken the rules and been spared, and now he was about to break the rules again. And Chaka was sleeping. If Daniel was right, he was barely more than a child.

Daniel wondered if he had parents.

The rock almost slipped out of his grasp. Panicked at the idea that he might kill Chaka after all, by accident, Daniel shifted his grip and then lost it again, so the rock landed with a loud _thump_ a foot from Chaka's head.

Chaka woke with a start, staring straight at the rock, then turned to Daniel and snarled angrily.

Frustrated, out of hope, finally resigned that he was about to be punished and then he would die and was going to let it happen, Daniel held up his hands and dropped to a seat. "It's okay," he whispered past the tightness in his throat. " _Ka keka_."

He was going to die, and he wasn't even fighting it anymore.

Daniel wasn't watching anymore, expecting to be warned or disciplined somehow, so it was a surprise when he heard a whine that sounded like someone was in pain.

Afraid he'd dropped the rock onto Chaka after all, he looked up and saw the Unas cradling the hand that was still oozing a bright green blood. Someone--Loder--had shot Chaka, Daniel remembered vaguely. He looked more closely and thought he saw something in the open wound that might be a bullet, or part of one.

" _Ko_ ," Daniel said, then cleared his throat and held out his hands. "Give me. Let me see?"

When Chaka looked suspicious, Daniel held up his bound hands to demonstrate his helplessness, then gestured again, pointing to his own hand. "I can help you."

In the end, Daniel had to reach his hands out so far that he was practically touching. Chaka hadn't moved, except to blink at him. Daniel tapped the injured hand with a finger, making Chaka jerk away, and then held himself still.

Finally, Chaka crept closer again and held his hand out. Daniel glanced up at intent, wary eyes, then carefully looked at the wounded hand, still without touching.

He winced just looking at it--a piece of the bullet was definitely still lodged inside, almost between two of Chaka's fingers. Daniel slowly drew his hands back toward his pocket to extract his forceps and returned to the same position, waiting for permission. Whether or not having a bullet in the body was dangerous to an Unas, it had to hurt every time Chaka moved his fingers.

"Okay," Daniel said when the injured hand was placed into his. "I'm not a doctor. And my hands are kind of numb and I would really like to go to sleep, so that's not good. And I lost my glasses, but that's really your fault. But I think I can help."

Chaka's hand tensed when the forceps first touched the open wound. "It's okay," Daniel said, not looking away, because slipping would be bad. His hand was shaking badly enough already. "I can't...it's closed a little, so I have to--wait, hold on. _Ka!_ " he said. " _Cha!_ "

To his relief, Chaka obeyed and stayed still. Daniel dug deeper. Finally, he hit something hard. " _Ka_ ," Chaka growled.

Daniel tightened his grip with one hand and searched for a way to get a firm grip on the bullet with the other. "Almost," he said, gritting his teeth in concentration. "Hold on. Okay...okay..."

A piece of lead, covered with green blood, came free. Daniel dropped it on the ground and squinted at Chaka's hand, looking for anything else that might be lodged inside. "Better?" he said, looking up, and it was then that he saw the Unas staring at the bullet, looking astounded.

Then the look transferred itself onto him. " _Chakaa_ ," the Unas said.

So it definitely wasn't his real name. Daniel sighed. "What is _chakaa_?" he asked. " _Kel chakaa_?"

Chaka looked away, pulling his hand toward himself.

"Are we even now?" Daniel said without much hope. He held up his bound hands and looked back the way he'd come. "Look. _Unas ka keka Daniel. Unas ko keka onak. Daniel..._ wants to... _ko keka onak_."

" _Ka--Dan'el_ ka _keka onak_ ," Chaka scoffed.

"I could _ko keka onak_ ," Daniel said, "if you'd untie me." Conversation was difficult when all he could say was some variation on _you-no-kill-me_ and _you-kill-Goa'uld_ and _I-kill-Goa'uld_. He thought about saying something about _I-no-kill-you_ as a sign of good will and an offer of friendship, but he'd probably just get laughed at.

But then, Chaka stood again.

They were in the caves. This was probably where the Unas lived. That meant they were getting close to the end. When they got there, he was going to be killed, and no one would ever know unless he showed them where to go. Somehow, he thought being labeled MIA forever would be worse than at least having people know what happened to him.

Daniel picked up his writing stone from the ground just in time as he was jerked to his feet. He stumbled on the way up until he was leaning against a wall, then drew an arrow before Chaka could turn around to see what he was doing.

XXXXX

**_15 December 2000; P3X-888; 0800 hrs_ **

"Daniel Jackson was here," Teal'c said.

Jack turned away from the extinguished fire and hurried to see what Teal'c was looking at. As it turned out, he was looking at a cave drawing, with words scratched in above it that said, ' _DANIEL JACKSON WAS HERE._ '

"You're good," Jack said, though he was distracted by the sight of something red smeared right under Daniel's name. Blood--not much, though, and it looked deliberate. Better than a puddle or a splatter, at least.

"This has to be Daniel's, too," Carter said, bending to pick up what Jack recognized as a tape recorder, a chalked-in arrow pointing down at it.

"Think he left us a message?" he asked her as he and Teal'c continued looking around. She rewound obediently, although how the hell Daniel would have managed to tape record a message while being dragged around by an Unas was beyond him.

_"...of morbid,"_ Daniel's tinny voice said, shaking audibly even in the recording, _"but...actually, I hope you do, because there's data on Cleopatra and Julius on here, too. Chaka and I are friends. Don't roll your eyes, Jack. He's never seen a human before. I mean, he wants to kill me, but we're working on it. And I ate half a Goa'uld head, and he ate my chocolate--"_

"Delirious," Jack said.

Carter stopped the recorder and pocketed it. "At least we know he was alive, sir," she said.

There were tunnels leading in four directions from here. Jack didn't think they had time to search them all. He returned to the cooling fire and squinted harder at the ground, willing tracks to show up somewhere in the unyielding stone floor.

And then--

"This way," Carter said. Jack directed his flashlight toward where she was looking and saw an arrow drawn on the wall, with another one several meters down.

"Nice," Jack said, then ran down the tunnel, following the arrows.

They'd been stopped at two more forks--at one, they'd had to go down the wrong one until they decided Daniel wouldn't have waited that long to draw another arrow and doubled back to take the other path--before they heard an angry, inhuman growl ahead of them.

Jack picked up the pace. The tunnel narrowed, and then widened and widened until--

There he was.

Daniel stood with his back to them, and in front of him were two Unas, one of which must have been half again as big as Teal'c and a lot nastier. Daniel seemed frozen in place, but the other, smaller Unas was standing in front of him, and if Jack hadn't known better, he'd think that one was trying to protect him.

Their boots must have scuffed against the ground, because Daniel jumped and turned to see them. Jack raised his gun, knowing Daniel would know to get down out of the way, but instead, Daniel raised his hands--tied together at the wrists--and stepped in front of the smaller Unas.

"Don't!" Daniel shouted, his voice hoarse but urgent, firelight casting an odd shadow over his face. "Don't shoot!"

Delirious. No other explanation.

Carter and Teal'c took up defensive positions. Jack dropped to a crouch but didn't lower his gun as he looked quickly around the chamber. There were tunnels leading off in three directions--one back and two forward, and forward meant past the Unas, so back was the best option. He waited for Daniel to do something reasonable, like run away from the scary monsters.

It didn't happen.

The big Unas--the one that looked like he wanted to eat Daniel--threw his head back and roared. The two far tunnels disappeared as escape options as more Unas--geez, how many were there?--scampered out and stood around the back, looking like they wanted to eat Daniel, too, though at least they weren't doing anything aside from general menacing.

Without turning around, the smaller Unas shoved Daniel in the back with one hand, making him stumble two steps away from the Unas tribe and toward SG-1. Even with that push, Daniel held his place and didn't keep going. " _Cho'ee'che,_ " the Unas said.

"Daniel..." Jack said when the bigger, uglier Unas didn't look impressed.

"I'm okay," Daniel said, even as he swayed on the spot.

Gritting his teeth, Jack said, "What the hell is going on?"

" _Tok_ ," the younger Unas was saying. " _Chaka...ka nan!_ "

"Oh, good," Daniel said faintly before he turned his back to SG-1 and faced the Unas. "He's telling the alpha male not to eat me."

"Why?" Carter said as Jack boggled over the fact that Daniel was actually translating monster-speak for them.

"He likes me," Daniel said, sounding far too pleased about that. "We're friends."

Oh, this...this was _unbelievable_. "Friends?" Jack repeated.

Movement caught his eye, and he shifted his aim to another Unas approaching with a club.

" _Ka!_ " Daniel's friend yelled at the Unas.

"Don't!" Daniel yelled at SG-1. "I think he...Chaka doesn't want to kill me anymore. He brought me here because he wants me to stay and...and, and be friends, don't you see?"

"And they're buying that?" Jack said, because _he_ wasn't buying it.

Daniel swallowed and turned around unsteadily to look at the alpha male. "Uh...maybe not."

The Unas moved closer, looming threateningly. Jack held his position in frustration, knowing he couldn't take a shot without risking Daniel, unless Daniel would _move the hell out of the way_...

The alpha male swung an arm back, and finally Daniel did something normal and ducked his head, yelling, " _Ka! Ka keka!_ "

Well, this was new.

The Unas seemed to think so, too, and backed off slightly. "Daniel?" Jack repeated.

"I said 'don't kill me,'" Daniel said, but the alpha was already regrouping, and now even Daniel was taking a step back. "Uh--" The younger Unas stepped in front of him, but was swatted away.

" _Kree--yahs!_ " Teal'c barked.

Finally, training overcame whatever idiocy Daniel had simmering in his brainpan, and he dropped to the ground. Jack wasted no time in opening fire on the alpha alongside Carter.

And _still_ , with green blood oozing from a dozen bullet holes in his chest, the Unas was still alive and angrier than ever. Daniel was on his knees on the ground now--he made a move as if to scramble awkwardly backward--

The younger Unas launched itself at the alpha, knocking it away. Jack shifted his aim to the blur of battling Unas and almost pulled the trigger again, because he didn't care if he killed them all, as long as none of his team got eaten. But Daniel was struggling back to his feet, hampered by his bound hands, and he was _in the goddamned way_ , so Jack eased his finger off the trigger.

There was water splashing, and the distinctive sound of something being pounded hard against something else, and then--

Daniel had made it to his feet and was staring at the mess of dead Unas and the victor standing over it. Jack couldn't even tell in the dark who'd won, until Daniel said, "Chaka killed the alpha male. He's their leader, now."

Even as he said it, the young Unas emerged from the shadows to a crowd of silent Unas. It lunged halfway toward one, who backed off, then roared at the rest of them until they retreated again, back down the tunnels and out of sight.

Then the young Unas turned around to face them. Jack didn't even consider letting his gun waver. Until--

"Dan'el," the Unas said.

Only a lifetime of training kept the gun from slipping out of Jack's hands in surprise.

The Unas was pointing toward the back of the chamber, where the tunnels were, and hunching its back in something almost like a bow. Daniel looked that way, and for a moment, Jack thought he was actually going to follow.

And then he said, " _Ka. Daniel ka cha_." He raised his bound hands to point in the vague direction of Carter and almost overbalanced just doing that. Moving closer, Jack finally found that the shadow he'd seen earlier wasn't a shadow at all, but rather some kind of blue paint swiped messily across Daniel's cheek--some kind of ceremonial thing, maybe?

The Unas growled. Daniel growled back. Carter dropped her aim and her jaw at the same time. Jack thought Daniel sounded like a baby bear with a head cold, and apparently the Unas did, too, because it laughed. And then Daniel snickered, so Jack decided they'd all just gone insane.

" _Chakaa_ ," the Unas said, then turned and disappeared behind the rest of its clan.

Jack finally lowered his weapon and reached Daniel in time to stop him from pitching forward by wrapping a hand around his arm. "What was that all about?"

"He likes me, did you see?" Daniel said, and now that Jack was so close, he could feel Daniel shivering. "That's not actually his name, though. I just call him that." He leaned back toward Jack, then winced and straightened.

Jack glanced back to see Carter and Teal'c give each other worried looks. "Uh-huh," he said agreeably, pulling backward and hoping Daniel would pick up one of his feet and move. "What's not his name?"

"Chaka."

"Chaka--that was in your recording," Carter said.

Daniel's eyes widened as Jack steered him away from the cavern, following the arrows backward to make sure they came out in the right place. "You found my tape! Good--Robert would have killed me if I'd lost all our notes from the last couple of days."

Carter's step faltered.

Teal'c's chin rose. He glanced at Jack, who was still holding onto Daniel with one arm, and shook his head very slightly, his eyes flicking back toward where the Unas had just come out. _Get out of the monsters' lair first_.

"Let's get this off you, huh?" Jack said, pulling his knife and touching the rope around Daniel's wrists, because he was _not_ dragging Daniel outside on a leash.

"It's really good rope, isn't it?" Daniel said vaguely, standing passively as Jack slipped the blade under the rope. "Do you know what that means?"

"No," Jack said, hoping there was actually something logical about what he'd been about to say but not particularly wanting to discuss it now. "You can tell us later, Daniel."

"Oka--" He gasped when Jack started to saw through. Jack concentrated and decided on speed rather than trying to be gentle, at least until they were out of these damn caves. By the time he'd cut all the way through and started to pull the rope away, Daniel was gritting his teeth with pain.

"I know, I know," Carter murmured, taking his hands and rubbing them gently between hers as Jack pulled the last bits of rope away from Daniel's wrists, picking a few stray strands away from the abrasions. "Give it a minute--some of that's the blood going back into your hands. We'll look you over and dress whatever we can once we get outside, where it's light."

Even in the dim light of the cave, Jack could see that the rope had broken skin all around Daniel's wrists. He tossed the strands out of the way and wondered how the hell Daniel had decided this was someone with whom he should become friends.

"Jack, you can't litter," Daniel said as they started away again. "Jack..."

"Daniel, leave it," Jack said, quashing anger at the inanity of that statement.

"But I told Chaka he couldn't," Daniel insisted, pulling his hands away from Carter and actually walking away from them. "You can't just break the rules. He'll think you're cheating, and...and...and he hates it when people cheat."

Goddammit. "Look," he said, "we have--"

Daniel bared his teeth and snarled at him.

"Daniel!" Jack snapped, a little scared now. He moved so he was standing in Daniel's path and making him look up in surprise. " _Listen_! Are you listening to me, Jackson?"

"Sir," Daniel said, his eyes wide.

Jack took a breath. "What's going on with you, Daniel? Are you hurt?"

"You found me," he said instead of answering. "How--?" He frowned, looking past them. "I thought...you weren't going to get here before--"

"We found you," Jack said, not willing to let that sentence be completed. He pulling Daniel back so they were eye-to-eye again. "We have to get out of here and go home. Got it?"

Daniel blinked at him with the lethargy of someone on the verge of either falling asleep or passing out. Jack counted back the number of hours--they were going on twenty-four hours just since his capture--and thought, _fatigue, dehydration, minor injuries_... "I want to go home," Daniel said, then repeated, "How are you here?"

"We followed you," Jack said. "Now, let's go home. The--Chaka said we could go, right?"

"I don't know," Daniel said. "I only learned how to say 'no-eat-Daniel' and 'Unas-kill-Goa'uld.'"

And just like that, Jack remembered the Goa'uld.

He didn't take his gaze from Daniel's but he waited only until he saw Teal'c toss his staff weapon out of reach before he stepped quickly away from Daniel, putting his own gun out of range. Surprised, Daniel stumbled back into Teal'c, who clasped him to his chest with one arm.

"Teal'c," Daniel said, looking down at the arm around his chest. "What are you doing?"

Carter's hands were on her weapon, though she wasn't aiming to shoot. "Doubt it, sir," she said, kicking the frayed rope with a foot. A Goa'uld might have tried to break free. Then again, like Daniel had said, it _was_ good, sturdy rope, and in a fight between a Goa'ulded human and an Unas...Teal'c was raising the eyebrow that meant he wasn't sure.

There was a cut on Daniel's cheek, though, still fresh. There was at least one bruise on his face, the knees of his trousers were ripped and the skin under it scraped, his wrists were a mess, and if the little flinches were anything to go by, he was pretty banged up elsewhere, too. Jack didn't think a Goa'uld would still have those. Still, he hadn't thought a Goa'uld would escape Teal'c or Carter's notice, either, and a lake-full of them still had. There was no way to know for sure until they stuck Daniel in an MRI.

"What?" Daniel said, confused. He saw them holding their guns, and said, "Oh. Are you a Goa'uld? Teal'c, are they--uh-oh. You can't sense them, can you."

"Uh-oh?" Jack repeated. "You think we might be Goa'ulds and all you have to say is _uh-oh_?"

Daniel stilled, his eyes becoming a little more alert (and not glowing, thank god). "Are you?" He looked to Jack, then Sam. "Did you go near the river?"

Daniel was tired, Jack told himself. Dazed, confused, possibly concussed, and terrified--that was why he wasn't acting quite like his normal self, wasn't even realizing that asking questions like that was utterly useless if they'd been Goa'ulded. Except Hawkins had been dazed, too, and confused and tired and afraid--"What would you do if we _were_ Goa'uld?" Jack said.

They were scaring him. He was starting to tense up, his arms twitching ever so slightly in the way the Jack knew from experience was his way of testing someone's hold on him. Then he said, "Stay as close as I could to Teal'c and...do you have a zat? Why don't you have a zat?"

Because when SG-1 and -2 walked deliberately into combat, they didn't usually worry about keeping the other guy alive. Usually the other guy wasn't theirs.

"Okay," Jack said, mostly convinced now but not answering the question. He couldn't trust himself to be objective on this, though, not with Daniel, so he waited for Carter's nod and Teal'c's raise-eyebrow-tilt-head to lower his gun. "We're not Goa'ulds, Daniel. And I don't think you are, either, but you know we're still gonna have to be careful on the way back to the Stargate."

"How do I know you're lying?" Daniel said. He squeezed his eyes shut for a second and blinked them back open. "I mean. Not...lying. How do I know you're--"

"I have tested them, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said.

"You can't," Daniel said. "HSLR shows zero naquadah for all bone sample concentrations up to 500 milligrams per milliliter reagent, Teal'c, there's no naquadah, not even in Cleopatra!"

"Trust in me, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said calmly as Jack shared a look with Carter, because some of that sounded like science stuff Daniel might know and some of it just sounded crazy. "I devised a way to determine whether O'Neill and Major Carter were infested with Goa'uld. They are not."

Jack picked up Teal'c's staff weapon but didn't give it back. This wasn't the time to be taking risks, not when they'd had to kill two of their own men today. If Daniel had a Goa'uld in him, they were _not_ going to find out because he'd gotten at a weapon. It would be fine. Jack was going to tell himself that until they got home and found out just how wrong that was.

"We've gotta go," Jack said. "Daniel, I know you're tired, but Teal'c's going to stick with you if you need help. Carter and I are going to watch your back until we get outside."

The look in Daniel's eyes said he knew they were watching Teal'c's back as much as Daniel's, but despite everything, he wasn't new to this. "Okay," he said quietly, looking more shaken, but more alert, too.

They finally reached the mouth of the cave. Daniel tried to collapse there, right in the open. Teal'c stopped him and moved a little farther away, where there was at least some minimal cover and the caves were out of sight, then let him sit against a tree.

"Teal'c, can you...?" Carter said, unhooking her P90 and holding it out. Teal'c accepted it--and held out his hand until Jack gave him his staff weapon back--and stood guard while Carter dropped to her knees to check Daniel over.

"Why did you come?" Daniel said again while she pulled a canteen from her waist. "We weren't supposed to check in for--" He stopped, sucking in a sharp breath as she trickled clean water over his wrists and hands.

"Two days, yeah," Jack said, knowing what was next, but it was going to come out, anyway. He waited for the question, but Daniel had closed his eyes and was leaning back against the tree.

"Dr. Rothman returned with news of your capture," Teal'c said. "We came here with SG-2 upon his request for help in finding you."

Daniel's eyes popped open. "Robert? SG-2? What happened to SG-11? They were at the camp when Chaka came, and--"

"SG-2 is okay, Daniel," Jack said. "We should meet up with them on the way to the Stargate. But...Daniel, I'm sorry. The others didn't make it."

"What do you mean?" Daniel said, watching Carter work.

Jack bit back the impulse to yell, _'what the hell do you_ think _I mean?'_ because there weren’t many ways to interpret that. Instead, he said, "They were killed in action, Daniel."

"You're saying my name a lot," Daniel observed. "That's one of your tactics, Jack."

"Dan--" Jack exhaled sharply. "Did you hear what I said?"

"But we never finished packing up Cleopatra," Daniel said, frowning.

What the hell _was_ that, all this Cleopatra business? "Cleopatra?" Jack repeated.

"She's my queen," Daniel said, rubbing his eyes with a newly-bandaged arm. Teal'c shifted, lifting his staff weapon with one arm. "Robert wanted to call her Cleo, but I found her, so I got to name her."

Jack thought for a horrifying moment that he might have to decide whether or not he could point a gun at Daniel and shoot, but then Carter said, "Oh, Cleopa--you mean the fossils. He means the fossils, sir," she said, glancing back for a second, relieved. "Like Julius and Brutus, the ones they sent back. So you found a...a fossilized queen Goa'uld?"

Daniel didn't answer. He closed his eyes, and Jack thought he was avoiding the question until he realized Daniel was slumping over so far his blue-streaked cheek landed on Carter's shoulder.

"Hey," she said, pushing him back up so she could finish checking him for injuries. "Not yet."

"Sam," he mumbled. "My head hurts."

"Perhaps we should rest, O'Neill," Teal'c said.

Jack looked at his watch, then up at the sky. They had almost sixteen more hours of daylight, but he really didn’t want to waste that and be stranded again for the night.

"It took us over ten hours, sir," Carter said, gently probing the back of Daniel's head, "not counting the night, and at a fast pace. He's not going to make it there without a break, anyway."

"All right," Jack conceded when she moved away from his head without looking overly worried. "How fast do we need to get him back to base?"

"Nothing critical that I can see. Dr....Rothman said he was knocked out, but he hasn't seemed particularly dizzy or anything that can't be explained by fatigue and dehydration. We do need a short break, sir."

"Fine. Boots on," he said, and the familiarity of that order made him look over his shoulder, as if he might see a Goa'uld leap out from behind him. No water nearby. Fine. They were fine. "Three hours. Carter, get him settled, get some water in him, some food if you can; Teal'c, first watch."

Neither Jack nor Carter lay down. Teal'c was watching Daniel; the rest of them would watch for whatever else was planning on jumping out at them. After the last day, Jack wouldn't be surprised at much of anything anymore.

...x...

Jack was on watch last, and he sat down with his leg stretched out against Daniel's back, tucking the emergency blanket tighter around Daniel's still-shivering form.

The movement seemed to wake Daniel, who opened his eyes and glanced over. He watched Jack's hands work until they stopped, and then he whispered, "SG-11? They're...?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry," Jack whispered back.

"And Robert? He's...he's dead?"

Jack nodded, even though Daniel wasn't looking at him anymore. "Yes."

Daniel stared at his own knees. "Why?"

Teal'c was watching the woods some distance away. Carter was closer, though, and listening, but she looked away when Jack glanced at her. "You said...you know there are Goa'uld in the--"

" _Ay_ ," Daniel breathed, squeezing his eyes shut. "No. No, Jack..."

"I'm sorry," Jack repeated. "We don't know when it happened, but by the time we realized, it was too late, and..." _...we shot him? I shot him? There was no choice but to kill him? Sorry, but I pulled the trigger?_

"And," Daniel said, then took a breath. "The Goa'uld--they took him? As a--"

"A host. Yes. I'm sorry."

There was a long silence, but Daniel's eyes were still half-open, staring at nothing. Needing something productive to do, something useful instead of platitudes that he maybe didn't have the right to give, Jack said, "You're exhausted. Catch a little more sleep. We've got a long trip back."

"I went to sleep with Chaka," Daniel mumbled, already halfway there. "He was eating and he let me sleep for a few minutes."

Jack still didn't know how any of these things were supposed to be connected but didn't ask; they could worry about that later, when they weren't worried about Goa'uld or Unas or hostages. There was a smear of blue on Daniel's cheek that hadn't gotten wiped off completely--they hadn't wanted to waste too much water on something that didn't look all that important--and, curious, Jack touched a finger to Daniel's face to try to wipe it off.

"What--?" Daniel said, curling away.

"I'm just..." Jack said, pulling back and frowning at a dried, blue flake on his thumb. "What is that?"

"What?" Daniel repeated. He turned around and squinted at Jack's hand. His eyes widened, and he swallowed hard. "Oh. That's...the symbiote...blood--"

He pushed himself halfway out of the blanket and threw up what little was in his stomach.

"Crap," Jack said, then shifted to pull Daniel away once the brief spasm had passed, automatically checking Daniel's temperature, even though he knew it wouldn't be accurate given the physical exertion.

"Colonel," Carter said, hurrying to them to see what was wrong.

"Carter, _gun_ ," Jack snapped, and she stopped partway to her knees.

"I'm n-not a Goa'uld," Daniel said, shaking so violently in Jack's grip it felt like he might fall apart.

Teal'c had returned, too. Jack glanced up at him long enough to shake his head, then pulled Daniel farther back, untangling him from the blanket. Daniel kicked feebly in an attempt to help free himself, then stilled and lay his head back against Jack's shoulder.

"I could have escaped," Daniel whispered. "I didn't even try, and Robert--he was on base and he came back, and he gods he's dead he died to--"

"You did try," Jack said. "You tried, Daniel, we saw the tracks at the river. You kept yourself alive, you didn't piss off the Unas. That was the right move. It's not your fault."

"He saved me," Daniel said, gripping the back of Jack's hand. "I was going to drown, and there was a Goa'uld, and he saved me. He fed me and...and protected me. I couldn't just kill him."

"Okay," Jack said, deciding they could figure out that bizarre loyalty when they got home and suppressing the terror that came with the image of an almost-drowned Daniel. "Okay. It's okay. You can tell us about it when we get home."

"But," he said, his tone bewildered. "I was just with them--how can they all be dead?"

"Daniel," he warned, looking uncomfortably at the woods around them and the caves behind, "I'm sorry, but this is not the time. We can't do this right now."

Daniel shut his mouth tight but shook his head and shivered harder, curling his legs into himself, and in his state, the last thing he needed was to drop off into shock or start really panicking.

Bracing himself, Jack ordered, "Get up. Stand up. Mr. Jackson, get up, _now_!"

"Sir," Carter protested.

"We're getting out of here," Jack said. He stood and dragged Daniel up with him, then moved to face him. "Daniel. We are going to get you home, but you have to listen. Your orders are to stay calm, _is that understood_?"

Daniel swayed when Jack let go and reached out to grab onto an arm again. "Yes, sir," he mumbled. "Understood. Stay calm."

Carter's eyes were wide and accusing. Jack just wanted to get off this damn planet, and if he had to use the tone and words that made some conditioned part of Daniel say ' _yes, sir_ ' and snap to, he would do that. He'd rather Daniel felt safe, too, but with safety came complacency. One of Daniel's talents was how well he functioned when they _weren't_ safe.

Jack reached for his canteen. "Here--water," he said briskly. "Swish. And take another sip--not too much."

Daniel obeyed, took a sip, two, three, tried to gulp more. Jack took it away. "I'll give you more later. Teal'c, take point," Jack ordered. "Carter, watch our six. Daniel, you're with me. Let's go."

A gentle prod on the back was all Daniel needed to start forward. Teal'c picked up Jack's P90 and his own staff weapon, tried to catch Daniel's eye and failed, then led their way off.

...x...

_"We met up with Griff and Pierce at the dig site,"_ Major Coburn's voice said over the radio. _"We can wait for you here. Sir--we're glad you found him."_

"We might need a little longer than we took getting here," Jack answered as they walked. "But we should make it around sunset--give us a couple of hours. Stay sharp, Major."

_"Yes, sir. SG-2 out."_

As soon as the radio quieted, Daniel said, "Were they all taken by Goa'uld?"

There was a moment in which Jack hoped Carter or Teal'c would answer, but being responsible for Rothman's death didn't make him any less responsible for telling about it. "Major Hawkins and Dr. Rothman were," Jack answered. "We don't know about the others. Sergeant Loder probably wasn't; he was killed in the initial attack."

"I saw that," Daniel said. "I never even considered Loder might have been killed, and not just..." He trailed off.

"Still think Chaka's your friend?" Jack said.

"It's not..." Daniel said, frowning. "Jack--he didn't even understand--"

Fighting off a burst of anger, Jack interrupted, "We can talk about it later." If they talked about it now, Jack wouldn't be able to stop himself from saying something cruel.

"The Goa'uld living here are parasites," Daniel said calmly after a pause, "but, when they don't have hosts available, they're probably still predators, too, probably first and foremost. And I think they're cannibalistic or at least very competitive. Did they kill each other?"

It took a while to sort out who the last _they_ was before Jack said, "We don't know about the other--about Lieutenant Sanchez and Captain Hatley. Hawkins just told us they were dead."

"We all had to make water runs a lot. Major Hawkins and the others might have... I don't know if they'd been Goa'ulded already, but Hawkins might have killed them himself. Not Hawkins," he amended. "The Goa'uld in him."

Jack hadn't thought there was anything worse than being a Goa'uld. Apparently, there was. Being a Goa'uld and watching himself kill his own men would be far, far worse.

"But if Hawkins told you," Daniel said, still piecing it together, "who killed him? And Robert?"

"I fired upon Major Hawkins when he attempted to kill O'Neill," Teal'c said from the front of the line. "He died quickly."

"I had to shoot Dr. Rothman," Jack said. Daniel tripped. Jack caught him, and they kept going.

No excuses. Jack wasn't about to make excuses to absolve his actions, right or wrong. But Daniel needed reasons for everything, and he said, "Why did you have to shoot him?"

"He had Teal'c's staff weapon," Jack said. "He'd shot one man already. I made the call."

That made Daniel halt in his tracks. Jack braced himself, but Daniel's response was, "Shot whom? Did he--is he--"

"Captain Griff was shot in the arm. He's okay, and the rest of his team is with him. Staff blast, looks clean. Keep moving, Daniel."

Daniel kept moving. "Do you think Robert knew he was fine?"

_Probably not_ , Jack thought. It had been too fast, and Rothman, if he'd been awake in his body at all, would probably have seen that shot and only registered _shot_. Even someone trained in weapons might not have known, not with the kind of time they'd had. "It...might've happened too fast," Jack said.

"Then it w...it was..." Daniel pressed the back of his hand to his mouth.

"It was quick," Jack promised. "We're almost home. Hold it together, Jackson."

"Okay," Daniel breathed, except it wasn't.

...x...

It was dusk when they reached the dig site. "Major Coburn!" Jack called, in the lead this time while Teal'c stayed with Daniel.

Major Coburn and the rest of his team appeared from behind some of the tents SG-11 had set up. "Colonel," he called back. "What's the plan, sir?"

"A few more hours and we'll be at the 'gate," Jack said as they approached. "Let's try to make it all the way--we'll just keep careful watch as we go. Griff," he added when he spotted a man with a sling. "You good?"

"I'm all right, sir," Griff said, looking a little pale but steady enough on his feet. "Good to see you in one piece, Jackson."

"Is that them?" Daniel said instead of answering. Jack turned and followed his squinting gaze to a line of mounds, visible just beyond the perimeter of their camp. They'd carried the bodies back, then, to be buried together. "Two, three...that's only four. There should be five of them."

Coburn looked questioningly at Jack, who nodded. "We haven't found Captain Hatley," Coburn said. He pulled short lengths of chain out of his pocket--dog tags. "The three of us are willing to stay and continue the search, with your permission, sir."

"You said Major Hawkins said they were dead," Daniel said dazedly. "He'd have no reason to lie about a prey and then wait to be caught."

Jack stepped in front of him to shield him from raised eyebrows and said, "We should go back to the SGC, Major. Whether or not Hatley's still alive, whoever comes back to search is coming back with zat guns."

"Jack--" Daniel started.

"That's final, Daniel."

"I brought a _zat'nik'tel_ to the dig. You signed off on it."

And he had--Daniel's usual full set of weaponry was a pistol, a bayonet, and a zat gun. Jack resisted asking why the hell he hadn't been carrying it at the time and instead said, "Where? Show us."

Jack let Teal'c follow as Daniel led them to one of the tents, then stepped in close to SG-2. "We don't think Daniel was Goa'ulded, but he's been...a little... You saw. We can't be sure until we get to base. No one get close to him with a weapon he can take from you."

"Yes, sir," Coburn said. "And about Hatley...?"

"If the zat's here, you can stay and look for him. If you don't report back within twenty-four hours from when my team leaves this site, we'll assume something happened to you. Don't go anywhere near water, and watch each other's backs. It's gonna be dark soon."

Without waiting for an answer, Jack hurried to where Daniel was kneeling in front of one of the tents. It was hard to tell if he'd sat down there or if Teal'c was stopping him from going in. When Jack was close enough, he could see a notebook on the ground that he assumed was Rothman's, since the handwriting wasn't Daniel's. Daniel was staring at it and looking like he wasn't sure whether to pick it up.

"Carter," Jack said, jerking his head toward the tent, and she ducked inside. Before the flap fell closed, he saw two bedrolls and a stack of books inside and decided Daniel and Rothman must have shared this one.

She reemerged moments later, zat gun in hand. "Bottom of Daniel's pack," she said.

Jack nodded, took it from her, and passed it to SG-2. "Good luck," he said. "No one goes off on his own. Twenty-four hours starting now. Griff, you're with us."

"Wait--our... We're coming back, right," Daniel said as they set off again, SG-1 with Griff in tow. "Jack? We're coming back?"

"I don't think so," Jack said, meaning _not a chance in hell_.

"His things--all of our things are here--" He was clutching Rothman's notebook. "And the--we never got to finish. There's...Cleo is still here, Jack--"

"We can do that later," Carter said. "Someone will bring Cleopatra back."

"Cleo," Daniel said.


	13. Archaeologists

**_15 December 2000; Embarkation Room, SGC; 2300 hrs_ **

Jack walked through the Stargate to find Daniel on his knees, kept from total collapse by Teal'c's grasp, but he was stirring even as Dr. Fraiser clicked her way up the ramp. Stress from the trip through the wormhole, probably, barely noticeable to most of them but a definite head rush when they were really exhausted. That was okay. They could deal with that.

"MRI first," Jack ordered.

Fraiser's gaze whipped up to him, as well as General Hammond's. "Sir? But wouldn't Teal'c--"

"There's no naquadah in the Goa'uld on that planet," Jack said, forcing himself to stand by and watch other people take care of Daniel. "No one knew they were there."

"Let go," Daniel was saying, squirming out of Teal'c's grip. "No, let me go--"

" _Kal shak, chal'ti_ ," Teal'c said, loading him onto a gurney with the help of Fraiser and an orderly.

" _Na nay,_ " he insisted as someone tried to strap him down to make him stop struggling. "No, no--Jack!"

"Stop fighting and no one'll tie you up again, Daniel," Jack said sharply, because he didn't want to see Daniel tied up anymore, either. "That's an order--lie _still_. I'll be right there."

To his relief, Daniel acquiesced and froze, lying unnaturally still as Dr. Fraiser gave them all another confused look and hurried off to the infirmary behind the gurney.

"What happened, Colonel?" Hammond said, looking at the four of them left standing on the ramp. "Where's everyone else?"

Jack jerked a thumb toward Griff. "The rest of SG-2 is still searching for Captain Hatley's"-- _body_ , Jack almost said. "Still searching for Hatley, and they're scheduled to return within twenty hours from now. We have confirmation that the rest of SG-11 is dead." Something on the ramp caught his eye, and he bent to pick up the dusty journal that Daniel must have dropped.

Hammond stared at the journal, too. He stood very still for a long moment, then said evenly, "Captain Griff, do you need help to get to the infirmary?"

"No, sir," Griff said quietly.

"You're dismissed. SG-1, see me in my office."

"General," Jack said tightly as Griff walked past them, shadowed by an SF, "Daniel's going to--"

"You're with me, Colonel," Hammond repeated. "Major Carter, Teal'c, you can go with Mr. Jackson."

...x...

"Daniel's not a Goa'uld," Fraiser said immediately when Jack walked in, one agonizing debriefing later.

"Didn't think so," Jack said, but he was relieved anyway. "Is he okay?"

"Physically?" she said, looking at Daniel, freshly clean and damp and asleep under a pile of blankets. "Exhaustion, scrapes and bruises, dehydration... Better than I expected, frankly, from what Major Carter told me. But I’m concerned about his mental state. He's been a little...out of it."

"He's just worn out, I think," Jack said, because Daniel was always okay in the end, but then, Dr. Rothman had always been alive to yell at them for making Daniel not-okay in the first place. And this time there was that other part... "Doc, he keeps saying the Unas was his friend. Gave it a name and everything. Wouldn't let us shoot it."

She stared up at him. "That sounds complicated," she said slowly. "If... There's no physical indication of mind-control or--"

"It's not that. I don't know what it is," Jack admitted. The Unas had defended Daniel, too, both of them standing together against the other Unas and SG-1. If that wasn't a screwed-up friendship, he didn't know what was. "Frankly, I think Daniel and the Unas both got pretty confused about it."

"I can imagine," she said.

"Really?" Jack said.

"That two people might empathize with each other and form a bond over the course of a period of time spent together like that, no matter how twisted it seems to us?" she said. "It's happened before to others out of interdependence or self-defense."

"He didn't get brainwashed in twenty-four hours." Jack knew all he wanted about the psychology of people who got snatched by an enemy, but it should be different when one of them had horns. "And only one of them was a person this time."

"Maybe," she said. "But I doubt Daniel thought of it that way. He's gotten used to adapting to alien situations and accepting alien conventions, whether at the SGC or with an Unas. He's done enough missions undercover to know how best to act the way an enemy would expect. Adapting is essentially what his life has _been_ for the last years."

"The SGC never tied him up and hit him when he broke a rule," Jack snapped.

Fraiser winced slightly but responded, "If the Unas did, then you should keep that in mind when you interact with him."

He sighed. Daniel had barely been awake and upright on their way back--there was no way to know where his mind would be when he was rested and coherent. "Right."

"Colonel..." She hesitated, then said, "Sam told me about Major Hawkins' team."

Jack nodded tensely, watching Teal'c and Carter next to Daniel. Teal'c was still on watch, and he would be until someone told him to stand down. Carter was leaning her elbows on the bed next to Daniel, looking tired enough to fall asleep herself and disturbed enough about everything that Jack knew she'd probably spend tonight in her lab instead. "SG-2 got back about an hour after we did," he said. "They found"-- _most of_ \--"Captain Hatley. He's dead, too."

When he looked back down at her, her eyes were wet.

"Janet, I'm sorry," he said, setting a hand on her shoulder.

That woke her up enough to say, "Don't be, sir. It certainly wasn't your fault." She held her place a second longer, then backed up a step and let his hand fall away.

He wanted to tell her, all of a sudden, that it _was_ his fault, in more ways than one. He couldn't put that on his team, not right now, but Janet would understand.

But before Jack could start to say it, she shook her head firmly. "No, Jack," she scolded, like he was twelve, or maybe a dog that insisted on disobeying her. "It's not your fault."

"Yeah," he said, despite the part of him that knew she was wrong. His actions aside, Rothman and Hawkins had been under his command at the time. That made it his fault. It didn't matter who'd pulled the trigger.

And maybe Hawkins had been a lost cause--maybe--but Rothman would probably have lived if he hadn't gone with them. No one knew for sure when he'd been Goa'ulded, but it was most likely during that night, when they'd taken separate watches by the river. Jack was the one who'd let him come along and let him get into that situation.

"How's Griff?" he asked when he didn't see the man in the infirmary.

"Already walked out," she told him. "He'll be fine, too."

"And Daniel? How long's he going to be in here?"

"I... _could_ release him with you, sir, if he'll sleep better at home," she said. "But he'll be very sore for a while, and there's always a worry about infection from scrapes or from swallowing contaminated water. I'd prefer to keep him on base, at least for a day or two."

Jack nodded. The house was catching up to the base in terms of which Daniel considered 'home,' but when there was still some medical question, and if Daniel might not _want_ to be around his mentor's killer all that much, base was probably best. "We'll stay here, then," he said.

He made his way to the bedside and allowed himself to look at Daniel for a moment, just long enough for a visual check and to make sure he seemed all right. He looked more all right unconscious than he did awake. Jack tapped Carter on the shoulder to pull her aside.

"You have Daniel's tape recorder?" he said quietly.

"Yes, sir," she said, pulling it out of her pocket. "I haven't listened to most of it yet."

"I'm going to see if there's anything on it that we need to know. Can you stay with him?"

She glanced back at Teal'c and Daniel. "Yes, sir. We'll stay."

...x...

**_16 December 2000; Archaeology Office, SGC; 0100 hrs_ **

_"...Please don't kill him,"_ Daniel's voice said. _"He has a sense of humor. It's kind of weird. I'm starting to ramble. I'll leave this here. Maybe you'll find it. Um. That's it."_

Jack stared at the tape for a moment. When it was clear nothing more was coming out, he stopped it.

"I don't want to count the number of times I was sure we'd lost him," General Hammond's voice said, making Jack turn to see him in the back door to the office. "As you were," he added, a tired afterthought.

"You mean Daniel, sir?" Jack said, settling back into Daniel's chair.

"I mean Daniel," Hammond said. "The boy's had a lot of close calls, and I worry about that. Somehow, it rarely occurred to me to worry the same way about Dr. Rothman."

"Dr. Rothman wasn't usually in those kinds of situations," Jack said. "It was a different ball game." Except this time. This time, it had been exactly the same, and Rothman hadn't had the kind of lucky break--or the kind of training--that had saved Daniel so many times.

Hammond closed the door and stepped toward Rothman's desk, still looking at the tape in Jack's hand. "He was saying 'goodbye,'" the general said.

Jack felt the outline of the buttons against his skin. "Yes, sir, I guess he was."

And that made Jack suddenly angry. They'd spent years teaching Daniel to fight without even realizing at first that they were doing it. Daniel fought for _everything_ , even if it meant fighting his friends; how _dare_ he have accepted that an Unas was going to kill him for some ritual mumbo-jumbo, and if he'd resigned himself to that fate, what the hell was wrong with him that he'd been its friend, anyway?

People thought strange things when it was a matter of life or death or pain at the hands of a captor. Jack knew that. He just couldn't wrap his head around the fact that the same Daniel who could lie while being interrogated in an electrified cage and watching his teammates get shot could have folded in a day to this particular captor. Had he tried so hard to get under the Unas's scaly skin that he'd let the Unas get under his, too?

"How is he?" Hammond asked.

"I don't know," Jack said honestly.

Hammond nodded. "It's been less than two hours," he said, "and you may have noticed coming down the corridor... Not a lot of non-essential personnel are still at work at this hour, but rumors are already starting to filter into the Social Sciences department. People are getting worried. No one knows the whole story yet."

"There's no clear chain of command, sir? Is someone...taking over leadership?"

"That's what I need to ask you about," Hammond said. "Officially, Dr. Rothman never had a...second-in-command, if you will. But most people, including myself and yourself, have considered his deputy in practice to be--"

"Daniel," Jack finished, already shaking his head. "General, look, no offense to Daniel, but I don't think he can take over everything. Or should."

"And I wouldn't want him to," the general agreed. "There was a reason for the way they divided duties between themselves. At the same time, Daniel's the one who has shared Dr. Rothman's office--literally and figuratively--from the inception of the SGC."

"So...what are you saying, sir?" Jack said warily.

General Hammond sighed, looking at the desk for a moment as if to collect himself. "It'll make the transition easier if Mr. Jackson can help us pull things together. For one, I don't know whom I should look to for advice. That's the kind of thing that I know Mr. Jackson could tell me from inside this department."

"You're telling me," Jack said, not believing it, "that Daniel and Dr. Rothman were the only two scientists here you knew?"

"I'm telling you," Hammond said, "that Mr. Jackson has spent more time in this Mountain than anyone, except maybe Teal'c. He acts as the unofficial but generally accepted liaison between these offices and the field teams. If there's tension between any of our personnel or the slightest deficit in skill--even a rumor of it--he would know. He knows this department, and he knows this war. And I've come to trust his judgment. I need to know how much I--we--can expect to depend on him right now."

Jack sat back. "I think...if you asked, he'd do whatever you needed. But I'd rather you didn't ask too much."

Hammond gave him a tired look that told him just how unhelpful that was.

"When Daniel wakes up," Jack clarified, "if he's less disoriented, we'll ask him who can do Dr. Rothman's job and what things need to be taken care of in the short term. And then I'm going to ask you to hand the job over to someone else and lay off him for a while, sir. He needs a break, and this isn't his responsibility."

"All right," Hammond agreed. "Thank you, Colonel."

Jack set the tape back down on Daniel's desk and left it there. Daniel complained sometimes that the other linguists' ears weren't always sharp enough, and that was when the speech was human; he'd want to write the report on Unas language himself.

"I'm sorry, General," he blurted before the general could leave.

Hammond stopped in the doorway, took a breath, and turned back around. "Mistakes were made by a lot of people, and there were circumstances beyond anyone's knowledge or control. It's not your fault."

"Yes, sir," Jack said.

"Jack?" Hammond said. "I need you here now."

Jack nodded and stood up. "Yeah. I'm here."

XXXXX

**_16 December 2000; Infirmary, SGC; 0700 hrs_ **

Daniel started awake the next morning, gasping, his eyes wide and staring at the ceiling.

"Nightmare?" Jack asked.

Daniel's head whipped around and, to Jack's relief, he relaxed slightly. "Yes," he said hoarsely, sounding puzzled. "Maybe. I was dreaming of my parents. I haven't... It's been..." He stopped.

Jack raised his eyebrows. "You wanna talk about it?" he asked, even though they usually didn't. They normally tiptoed around each other's nightmares, acknowledged them but didn't push.

"No." Daniel looked around the infirmary, then pulled an arm out of his blankets to see the bandage that covered his wrist. He made a careful fist and opened it. "I don't suppose," he said, touching the bandage on his cheek, "that P3X-888 was just a dream, too?"

"No," Jack said, pouring a cup of water as Daniel grimaced and sat up very carefully. "Here."

It took an extra moment, but finally Daniel accepted it, holding it awkwardly in two lightly bandaged hands. After a few cautious sips, he said, "I'm sorry I scared you yesterday. I couldn't get out of that...frame of mind. I don't even know wh--"

"S'okay," Jack said as lightly as he could. "But no more growling at me. We like you human." Daniel shivered. A drop of water tipped over the edge of the cup in his hands and landed on the mattress. "Want to tell me what was going on?"

Not meeting his gaze, Daniel said, "It's just... Everyone society has its rules--things you do and things you avoid. If I followed Chaka's rules, and spoke to him so he understood, he was nicer--"

"And otherwise he punished you?" Jack finished stiffly.

Daniel glanced up. "It wasn't... Not the way you're thinking. I know what you're thinking. There were...misunderstandings. He was doing what seemed logical to him at the time."

Jack thought of the bruises that covered Daniel's chest and back. "Like tying you up, dragging you through a forest, hitting you when--"

"He saved my life!" Daniel said, his expression distressed but veering toward anger to cover it. "The rest... I did stupid things. Showing aggression, or trying to run from someone faster than I am, or fighting for control over a rope with someone stronger... Things that any observer with a brain, especially someone who's experienced at communication with foreign peoples, should have known better than--"

"Are you listening to yourself?" Jack said. "Will you at least agree that the Unas was an enemy?"

"But he _wasn't_ ," Daniel said earnestly. "That's just it. He had...incomplete information at the time, that's all. It was a misunderstanding. I just...was having a hard time switching away from his rules and back to _ours_. I was tired, and--"

"I can't believe..." Jack said, and forced himself to keep it calm. "Daniel. You're _defending_ him, even now?"

"Chaka wouldn't hurt me, not anymore," Daniel said, looking completely confident of that in a way that Jack found disturbing, given his last couple of days. The Unas had said Daniel's name on the recording, so there was no pretending they'd still been confused about sentience at that point, and Daniel's voice on the recording had been terrified.

Jack rubbed a hand over his face, not sure how to answer, and when he looked up, Daniel's brief spark of passion had disappeared and faded into a blank stare at the cup he was still holding in his hand. "Why don't we talk about this later," Jack said.

To his relief, Daniel nodded, clearly not ready to tackle a full-blown debate right now, but then he asked hesitantly, "So...SG-11 was all--"

"Yeah," Jack said.

"And Captain Hatley--"

"Yeah. They found his body. I'm sorry."

Daniel nodded again, shoulders slumping. "Jack..." he started, then stopped, looking down and biting his lip.

"It's not your fault," Jack said, knowing what he was going to say. "You survived. That's all."

For a moment, he thought that was going to send Daniel over the edge. Jack let him sit and stare at his plastic cup in silence until he'd composed himself enough to say, "People talk about survivor's guilt when the guilt is unjustified. If..." He stopped again.

"You tell me one thing you did wrong," Jack said. "Tell me one thing you could've done that would have made the difference between dead and alive for them. If you can't, then it's not your fault."

"There was nothing I could do," Daniel said.

"Yes," Jack said firmly. "That's right."

He clenched a hand around his cup of water. "No one gets left behind," Daniel recited bitterly. "They served and gave their lives with honor. There was nothing I could do. They knew the risks..."

Jack took the cup away from him. They'd all said it and heard it too many times. "I know it doesn't help," he said quietly. "I wish it did."

"Robert wouldn't have joined the search if he hadn't felt responsible for me. He said I'm always trying to get myself killed."

"Dr. Rothman joined the search because he wanted to find his friend and because I let him," Jack said. "You would've done exactly the same for him."

"You wouldn't have let me," Daniel whispered.

Jack knew that was the closest he would ever come to saying, _'how could you let him die.'_

"I--I'm sorry," Daniel said. "I don't mean... Thank you for...ending it before he k...before he killed someone."

Jack couldn't find a good way to answer that, so he moved on instead. "I know it's very soon," he said, "but we need to ask you a few things."

"I recorded..." Daniel started, then trailed off. "I guess the tape didn't make much sense. Without more context."

"The word 'hysterical' comes to mind," Jack agreed. Daniel raised his eyebrows but didn't argue the sentiment. "But it's not about the Unas thing, exactly."

"Then wh--oh. We need a department head," Daniel guessed. "What day is it? People must be confused upstairs."

"It's Saturday, and early, so don't worry; not too many people are here, and those who are don't know yet. The general wants your opinion on how things should go--just point us in the right direction."

There was a short hesitation, and then Daniel said, "Figure out where to put things--finished assignments to be filed or distributed to some team, unassigned projects, requests for anything from advice to equipment... Everything usually goes in designated places on our desks, and we'd sort them from there. People are going to feel..." He paused. "Some will feel too awkward to keep following routine and others will do it anyway by habit, but that means no one knows where to put things, and before long we'll start losing files."

"O...kay," Jack said, thinking that sounded like a tiny thing, and that it was the kind of tiny thing that could easily muck up the works. This could get complicated. "So how does it work? Who decides who has to do a job if someone doesn't want to do it?"

Daniel made a face. "Robert and I assign things, depending on who's on base; if neither is, people work out things for themselves and put aside the less urgent things for his approval. There aren't usually many arguments about too much work or doing things wrong, but if there are...people can go over my head if they disagree with me, but Robert has final say, so no one complains about having to defer to me. For military personnel, if their CO still doesn't like it, we can take it to the general, but we usually avoid that and just find someone else to do it. Robert _had_ final say," he amended belatedly. "Not...' _has_.'"

"Okay," Jack said again.

"Tell people to leave things in the same places," Daniel said, thinking. "I'll keep those organized. And I'll help with redoing the filing system for whoever takes over--"

"Someone else can do things like filing," Jack said. "Don't worry about it."

"Maybe, if someone else knew where things were on the shelves," Daniel countered.

Jack considered the chaotic organization that he, at least, had never been able to understand, and conceded, "Okay. You can help with that."

"But they wouldn't want me to have ultimate authority, and there are things I don't know how to do. Equipment, personnel, academic expertise in certain areas...oh. Training lessons and briefings...those are distributed around the department, anyway, depending on specialty, but Robert always did the first lectures for new recruits. I could do it, but new personnel don't take me seriously at first. It's why I don't do them very often now."

"But you know who _would_ be able to do all of that," Jack said, though he knew that there were only a few who could boast of as many diverse experiences as Daniel. It was time spent at the SGC and in the field, not age or rank or degree, that mattered there. "Maybe someone you can play right-hand man to, like usual--someone respectable who'll also listen to your advice."

"Of the civilians..."

"There are a bunch of military personnel there. It doesn't have to be a--"

"It should be a civilian," Daniel said firmly. "We're a research department, Jack. It should be someone whose _first_ priority will be research, and not just for military benefit."

"And _we're_ in the middle of a war," Jack reminded him. "Not many of our civilians have seen that face-to-face aside from...well, you and one or two others."

Daniel looked down at the blankets still covering his legs. "I'm not going to help you let our department get eaten up by the military. Robert and I built that department, and I won't... It's been a civilian position, and it should remain that way. The field teams draw specialists from our department, not the other way around."

Jack wasn't always happy about how deeply Daniel hated the Goa'uld. He supposed it was a good thing now, since Daniel would at least recommend someone who'd care enough about that, too. "Maybe you're right. What about field personnel--like Dr. Balinsky?"

"He's still getting used to SG-13; too busy. And he's, uh..." Daniel frowned at his hands, then glanced up uncertainly. "He's timid around people he doesn't know. And too junior, maybe. Not everyone would listen."

"If you say so," Jack said. "You have someone in mind?"

"Sam can pick locks, right?" Daniel said abruptly.

Jack frowned. "Uh...yeah. She's not a civilian social scientist, though."

Daniel blinked, then shook his head. "Sorry. I'm just...I don't know where Robert kept the keys to his desk, and I have a spare set in my desk, but...I left my keys to _my_ desk in my pack, which I left on '888. We'll need to be able to get in there."

Jack waited. When it didn't look like Daniel was going to start talking business again, he said, "Daniel. We can take care of that. That's easy. But give me a name--even if it's just temporary, until we get things settled again--and I'll let you rest."

"Dr. Reeve," Daniel said, a moment later. "Rick--Richard Reeve. He, Nyan, Cameron, and Captain Lithell are among the few I'd call primarily archaeologists and not translators or some other kind of social anthropologist."

"I...don't think I've ever heard of Dr. Reeve," Jack said.

"Well, you don't deal with our department much. You probably wouldn't like him, anyway."

"Is that supposed to be a good thing?"

"He's an experienced classical archaeologist, he's Tau'ri, he knows the academic world. He turns in good work, he...he's organized and consistent, he's on base all day every day because he doesn't go into the field..."

"That could be a plus," Jack admitted. Neither of them said aloud that that meant the man was less likely to get killed on the job.

Leaning back gingerly with a grimace, Daniel said, "He might not want the position, but for now, all he'd have to do is make things official, sign off on assignments, say 'no' when someone makes a mistake... It's good enough to keep things in order until we adjust to--until we adjust. I can take care of most day-to-day things for now, just like before."

"Then I'll tell the general. Can I get another name, in case Reeve falls through?"

Daniel chewed his lip. "Dr. Tran? Kara Tran. She studied interpretation, mostly, but she's come a long way in philology--written, ancient languages. She's a kind of...rising star in the department's eyes, I think, but newer than many of the others."

"Right," Jack said, making a mental note. "We'll deal with it from here."

"We'll deal," Daniel echoed, though he didn't look completely convinced. He started picking at a bandage, then winced and stopped. "Is that it? I haven't been debriefed--"

"That's it for now. You need to get some more rest, and the general and I'll debrief you later." Jack hesitated, then started, "You need anything? Are you in pain?"

"I'm fine," Daniel lied.

Jack eyed the raw-looking skin of Daniel's palms and the bruises visible at the edge of Daniel's scrub top, knowing it looked worse under there. Rothman had been right--Daniel had been unconscious for part of his captivity, and the Unas had dragged him a good distance before he'd woken up. "Right," he said. "Look, Dr. Fraiser says you can have medication--you're probably pretty sore right now. You're not going to get any rest if you're uncomfortable."

"I'm _fine_ ," Daniel repeated, gritting his teeth.

"You know," Jack said carefully, watching him rub the back of his neck, "Dr. Rothman wouldn't have wanted--"

"Don't you dare," Daniel hissed, looking up. "Jack. Don't."

"All right," Jack said, reminding himself that the welts and bruises and stubbornness weren't lethal. "Do you--"

"What do we tell them?" Daniel said, looking back down at the sheets. "We have to tell their families some story, don't we?"

It _would_ be nothing but a story, of course. Symbiotes aside, explaining the injuries on SG-11, especially with a civilian archaeologist, would have been impossible.

"General Hammond sent someone to Dr. Rothman's family," Jack told him. "Someone's probably at their door right about now. The rest of SG-11's families live near here, and they were told last night that we couldn't recover the bodies; the environment was discovered to be unsafe. All details--location, mission, cause of death--are classified." Daniel squeezed his eyes shut. "Daniel, you know we can't--"

"I know. I know. Are there going to be memorial services?"

Jack nodded. "If their families don't request something--though they probably will--we'll hold the service on base. Major Hawkins' service will be tomorrow; I haven't heard about the others', but I'll talk to the general and find out if you want. You know how it goes."

"We don't usually have civilians die in the field," Daniel said, fists clenching on the sheets. "Not like that. Aren't the customs different for them? For Robert?"

"Well...yeah," Jack said. "I mean...it depends on whether Ro--Dr. Rothman left his preferences in a will, and on the preferences of his family. But Daniel, you've never gone to a funeral off-base--you don't have to."

"I should. Shouldn't I? I was with them for weeks, and...and they were my team for a while."

Jack grimaced but had to point out, "What would you say if someone asked who you were? If you say you'd been with them for weeks when they died, they'll start wondering why and asking questions." Daniel pulled his legs toward his chest and dropped his head on top. Jack suppressed a sigh and set a hand on Daniel's head. "Hey. You're not forbidden from going--unless the doctor says--and no one would probably notice you, but if they did...I don't think you'd want to have to give some lie as a cover story right now, that's all. Would you?"

"No," Daniel said into his knees.

"It's okay," Jack said. "I know you want to pay your respects, but you don't have to go to a ceremony do that. If you really want to, we'll work something out."

"I had a real job with Robert that wasn't secret. It's the Sabbath today; his funeral would probably be tomorrow." Daniel shifted his head, his hair brushing against Jack's hand. "I shared an office with him, Jack. He gave me a..." He stopped.

Jack found a patch of shoulder that didn't have a bruise on it and squeezed gently. "We'll see," he finally said. "All right? That's all I can tell you now. I don't know how it'll be done, I don't know if Dr. Fraiser will be okay with you traveling that soon--"

"I'm fine," Daniel lied again. "I'll get up as soon as Janet comes and signs me out."

Sighing, Jack said, "All right. Well, we'll see. Do you want me to stay with you?" Daniel shook his head. "Are you--"

"Can you give me a minute?"

Jack stood up, patting his shoulder one more time. "Yeah. I'll tell the doctor to wait a bit and then come in. And I'm here all day--Teal'c and Sam, too. We'll check on you." Daniel swallowed hard at that, and Jack remembered that whenever he was injured, Rothman had always come down to the infirmary to check on him, too.

...x...

"Interesting choice," General Hammond said when Jack reported to him later. "Dr. Reeve."

"Good interesting or bad, sir?" Jack said.

Hammond pursed his lips. "The man keeps his head down. He came in a year or two ago with excellent credentials--a few years from retirement at the time, I believe, with a long history of solid work--but isn't someone I'd have fingered as a leader of any sort."

"I didn't even know he worked here, to be honest."

"That's what I mean. But with his academic record, I doubt anyone will complain about his taking over Dr. Rothman's position."

"It's who Daniel suggested," Jack said, shrugging. "From what I understand, everyone works pretty independently. They just need someone to keep it all organized--file their requisitions for them and write up personnel evaluations and whatnot."

"That's true, to some extent," Hammond said. He raised his eyebrows at Jack. "And...Dr. Reeve holds Mr. Jackson's work in high regard. In fact, he's probably one of the highest ranked civilian researchers who takes Mr. Jackson and his advice most seriously and barely seems to notice his age or lack of degrees, much less judge him for it."

Jack thought about that for a moment and remembered what Daniel had said about taking care of the everyday things himself. Even now, Jack had stuck his head into the archaeology office and found Daniel already changed into his BDUs and sifting mechanically through piles of unfiled reports. "I don't think this is a puppet-master scheme of Daniel's to take over," Jack said.

"I'm sure it's not, and certainly not consciously," the general agreed. "I'm also sure there's a part of him that would like things to stay the way they have been--a civilian instead of an airman or marine, an archaeologist specializing in artifact analysis and ancient civilizations instead of one of our social anthropologists or our many language analysts... As he said, he helped Dr. Rothman build and run that department."

"I'm okay with that, sir," Jack pointed out. "I'd rather have someone in charge who'll listen to field personnel and not just people with letters after their names. What bothers me is whether the field personnel will listen to an academic who's never been through the 'gate."

Hammond nodded. "There are personnel with...different degrees of involvement in the field among the cultural specialists. Commanders who'd rather not listen to a pure academic might listen to someone with experience like Mr. Jackson, and those who won't take _his_ advice will listen to others who will. It's always been like that, Colonel, and he's good at navigating through it all. You've just always had Mr. Jackson and Dr. Rothman as a buffer between your team and the rest of the department."

"If you say so, sir," Jack said. "Anyway. After that, it's just the issue of...well, sorting out Dr. Rothman's passwords and locked files, his possessions..."

"I understand," Hammond said, and stood. "Thank you, Colonel. I'll take it from here. Keep an eye on our boy for me."

XXXXX

**_16 December 2000; Teal'c's Quarters, SGC; 2000 hrs_ **

When Teal'c entered his quarters, on the day after they had returned from P3X-888, Daniel Jackson was waiting for him. "It was unlocked," the Abydon said, his arms stiff and tense at his sides. "I hope you don't mind."

"You are always welcome here," Teal'c assured him, despite suspecting that he had come here to hide from O'Neill's scrutiny. Teal'c let the door fall closed again and carefully stepped around Daniel Jackson, studying him.

"Are you busy?"

"I am not," Teal'c said.

Daniel Jackson swallowed and glanced around the room. "Will you come and train with me?"

Teal'c raised his eyebrow. "I will not," he said. He could see that this answer surprised Daniel Jackson, who was usually the one between them who needed to be dragged away from his books and to the gymnasium. "You are not sufficiently recovered; you should be sleeping."

"But I...I'd be careful," Daniel Jackson said.

"I do not believe you are currently capable of restraining yourself to avoid further injury," Teal'c said.

"I wasn't that badly hurt. Please?"

"No," Teal'c said more firmly. Daniel Jackson was grieving now, and angry, and the skin beneath his clothes still bore too many bruises for Teal'c to be able to control him without hurting him. "Do you wish to fight or to fight me?"

Daniel Jackson bit his lip and looked at the floor. "I want...to fight the Goa'uld, Teal'c. I want to kill every single one."

"Unless you wish to begin with me," Teal'c said, placing a hand on his symbiote pouch, "you will not accomplish that today."

He watched as Daniel Jackson's head rose, just enough to stare at the place where Teal'c's symbiote rested. "There's a Goa'uld in you," he said, quietly, his eyes bright with tears that he had not yet shed for fallen friends. "I know it'll try to take a host one day, and sometimes I want to kill it."

Teal'c understood--sometimes, he wished the same. This was the depth of hatred that could either harden a boy into a warrior or crush him, and all Teal'c could do was make certain that it strengthened Daniel Jackson instead of destroying him. "Is that what you truly wish?" he said, knowing what the answer would be.

"No," Daniel Jackson said dully. He sat gracelessly. "I just. I'm sorry."

"For what?" Teal'c said.

"For...for hating part of you. For Robert. For...I don't know. I'm sorry."

"As am I," Teal'c said, lowering himself slowly to a crouch. He took Daniel Jackson's bandaged hand and held it against his midsection, where he knew his friend could feel the symbiote's slight movements. "When this symbiote matures and is prepared to take a host, I will kill it. Until that day, I will use its strength to defeat others of its own kind. It will never take a host."

"If I'm taken by a Goa'uld," Daniel Jackson said, looking up intently, "you have to kill me."

Teal'c looked for any sign of insincerity and could not find it. "If you are taken," he countered, "we will kill the Goa'uld and save you." _As we were unable to do for Dr. Rothman_ , he thought.

Daniel Jackson shook his head, his hand pressing against Teal'c's abdomen. "Sometimes you can't help it. If you can't--if... You can't let me kill someone. Or do something horrible. You have to do it, Teal'c. _Promise_ me."

"You will not be taken by a Goa'uld during my watch," Teal'c said. "But you have my word that I would never allow you to endure such a thing." He released Daniel Jackson's hand and moved back, so they were sitting before one another on the floor. "And neither would O'Neill or Major Carter allow it."

"I can't ask them that," Daniel Jackson said.

"Then I am honored by your trust," Teal'c said carefully, pledging that he would never see his friend in such a position.

"I lost my..." Daniel Jackson said, subdued, touching his wrist where he had always before worn his brother's leather band alongside Teal'c's, replaced now with bandages. "Jack must have cut them off with the--with Chaka's rope."

Teal'c watched his fingers' nervous movements. "You have come very far. Do you still require strips of leather to remember why we fight?"

His expression seemed to crumple, and then hardened again. "No. I know why we fight."

"And you remember what it is that we hope to save?"

"Sometimes," Daniel Jackson said. "Sometimes it's easy to forget."

"Tomorrow, you plan to attend Dr. Rothman's memorial service," Teal'c said. He waited for Daniel Jackson to nod. "Those who mourn him do not know what the Goa'uld can do. It is that which we hope to save."

"That's _ignorance_ ," Daniel Jackson snapped. "He died because he wanted to save me, and they'll never know. It was... It's not a fair trade. Robert wasn't supposed to die."

Teal'c hesitated. They were approaching dangerous ground. "But you were?" Teal'c said.

"Ye--no," Daniel Jackson said. "But that's part of my job, to be ready to give my life if the mission calls for it. His job was to learn things to help other people _not_ die. He wasn't supposed to be there."

"Dr. Rothman was a courageous man," Teal'c chided, "and he was a true friend to you. Do not diminish his sacrifice, and do not diminish what you yourself suffered."

Daniel Jackson folded his legs under himself and rested his elbows on his knees.

Teal'c reached forward to pull his chin up and inspect the cut on his cheek. It was not deep or long; it would heal soon enough. What angered Teal'c was that it was not a mark received by any accident. Daniel Jackson had not spoken specifically of it, but it was clear that it had been deliberate, caused by a knife or a sharpened point. This was not the act of a friend, as Daniel Jackson had claimed; it was the act of someone who meant to cause fear--to look into a prisoner's eyes and see terror and pain and the understanding that he was helpless.

"Jack thinks I'm crazy," Daniel Jackson said, not moving until Teal'c released him, and then he sat back, slouching in a posture that would have made Teal'c scold him at another time. "About Chaka, I mean."

"You have spoken to O'Neill of this?"

"He doesn't want to listen."

"Perhaps," Teal'c said, "you must explain it fully so that he understands your meaning."

Daniel Jackson frowned, then somehow sagged even more into himself. "You don't believe me, either."

Teal'c could not completely deny the accusation. "I do not know how you can dismiss what the Unas did."

"He didn't understand, Teal'c," Daniel Jackson said earnestly. "If he'd captured a...some other wild animal and taken it to be eaten, you wouldn't think it wrong of him, would you? How is that any different?"

"You are not a wild animal, Daniel Jackson. Nor was Sergeant Loder when he was killed."

This made him pause, but only for a moment. "I know, but how was Chaka to know there was any difference? He'd never seen humans before, and he changed once he understood I could...talk to him and, and...do things that were helpful. The Unas were the first victims of Goa'uld oppression, Teal'c. We should go back and meet them, and they could be our allies--"

"I believe we should speak of this at another time," Teal'c said, not quite managing to keep his voice calm.

"Why?" Daniel Jackson challenged.

"Because I do not trust myself now to restrain my anger," Teal'c snapped. _You did not see yourself when we first found you_ , he wished to say. _You left a message for us to find because you believed the Unas would kill you_. Daniel Jackson narrowed his eyes. "You are in pain even now. The Unas did that to you."

"Bruises," Daniel Jackson protested. "That's all! It's not a big deal--"

"Do not continue," Teal'c ordered darkly.

"You hurt me worse. In the beginning. You don't think that hurt more than what Chaka did?" he continued nonetheless, knowing that those were the words to silence Teal'c. "But then I understood, and you understood, and it was different. And now I trust you with my _soul_."

Daniel Jackson knew how to strike hard in anger, but he did so to Teal'c only when he was hurt and could not entirely forget that Teal'c came from the Goa'uld. Teal'c understood and did not strike back in answer, as he could have done and had done before. He stared at Daniel Jackson's hand, glimpsing reddened skin at the edge of white bandage; he wondered if that had been caused by the rope or by being dragged too many times to the ground. "Do you not know me better than a monster that held you captive for a day?" Teal'c said quietly.

Daniel Jackson looked at his knees. "Of course."

"Give me your word," Teal'c demanded, "that, should you meet any Unas again, you will not trust it fully without knowing it fully."

"We have to go back," Daniel Jackson said. "We _have_ to, and Chaka is our best protection there."

"We do not have to return," Teal'c told him. "SG-2 was able to collect the belongings of yourself and SG-11--"

"But we weren't done! Robert wanted--we still had another week. And now that we know there's more to that planet than we thought before...I have to finish it."

"There are many other ways to honor Dr. Rothman," Teal'c said. "We do not have to return in his memory."

Daniel Jackson shook his head, looking toward one of the few lit candles. "Sometimes it seems like he's on a mission, and he'll be back. And then people come into the office to ask a question and it's... One person thought I was joking this morning when I said he was gone--she hadn’t gotten the...the memo yet. Can--can you believe there was a memo--"

" _Daniel_ ," Teal'c broke in. Daniel Jackson stopped, twisting his hands together until Teal'c reached out to make him stop for fear that he would hurt himself.

"I should check on Nyan," Daniel Jackson finally said. "He's been...upset."

Daniel Jackson may have been Dr. Rothman's first protégé at the SGC, but Nyan had been his last, and Nyan did not have as many whom he could call friends. "I will speak with Nyan," Teal'c assured him, because Daniel Jackson's intentions might be good, but this was not his task.

"You'll tell me if you think I should talk to him?"

"Yes," Teal'c lied. He had brought the Bedrosian to this planet; he would take responsibility.

Nodding, Daniel Jackson looked back down, dragging one finger in an idle circle on the floor. Teal'c let him sit, seeing that he was about to speak but had not yet framed the words properly. He had removed his eyeglasses, and his eyes looked oddly large and even younger than normal without them as he studied the floor.

"We found Robert's will in Records," he finally said. "That's what they call it, his 'will'--it's like a letter or a...a list of instructions about what he wanted to be done with everything."

"And what is to be done with it?" Teal'c asked.

Daniel Jackson stretched his back gingerly, shifting uncomfortably on the floor. "I didn't follow everything that was going on," he admitted. "It's complicated. He named Major Hawkins as the person who takes care of sorting through things, but now... I think General Hammond's handling it or something. And it's not very thorough--mostly, he just mentions a few personal items. And his bookshelf--he had instructions for almost every book on his shelf, but I don't think he was really expecting to...you know."

Teal'c nodded. Few of them had expected Dr. Rothman to die. "Then let others do that," he advised. "You are in need of rest."

He waited until Daniel Jackson finally nodded. "I guess so. Okay. Um...can you help me up?" he said, and Teal'c saw he was trying not to settle too much pressure on his raw hands and feet.

"Sleep here tonight," Teal'c offered, carefully pulling Daniel Jackson upright by the elbow. He had been privy to his friend's dreams several times before; he did not believe this would be a peaceful night.

"Jack will worry if he can't find me," he said, but even so, he took a step toward the bed.

"I will tell him you are here," Teal'c assured him, guiding him to sit on the mattress before moving to sit in a nearby corner where he could keep watch. "Rest. I will be nearby in _kelno'reem_."

...x...

Teal'c knocked gently.

_"Go away,"_ Nyan answered from within. Teal'c opened the door instead and found that the Bedrosian was lying on his bed. "Oh. Teal'c."

"Are you well, Nyan?" Teal'c asked, despite knowing the answer.

Nyan ducked his head and wiped his face as he sat up. "How is Daniel?"

"He is healing. You have not answered my question."

"I do not want to answer," Nyan said, slumping where he sat on the side of his bed. Teal'c stepped inside, let the door fall closed again, and sat next to him. "Colonel O'Neill has been trying to come here and talk to me."

"O'Neill--all of our team--is concerned for your wellbeing," Teal'c said. "It has not been long since you left your homeworld."

Nyan sighed. "You were able to do it. Daniel was, too, and Martouf."

Teal'c turned enough to see that Nyan was twisting his hands together in his lap. "Yes," he said. "But I had SG-1. Like you, Daniel Jackson had Dr. Rothman"--Nyan hiccupped--"but he has SG-1, also. Martouf is much older, and he has Major Carter. It is not weakness to feel lost on a strange world."

"I have never seen a Goa'uld, other than Martouf," Nyan said. "I cannot imagine Robert--"

"And you should not," Teal'c advised. "Dr. Rothman would not wish to be remembered in such a way." Nyan bowed his head toward his knees as a new tear dripped down his cheek. Teal'c lay a hand on his back and said quietly, "For my part in Dr. Rothman's death, I do not ask your forgiveness. I only wish you to know that I am sorry."

When he straightened, Nyan sniffed, then said, "He is really gone."

Teal'c stood and turned to face the Bedrosian. He did not wish to cheat a man of his grief, but neither could he allow a friend to be swallowed by it. "You were Dr. Rothman's last student, Nyan. You remember him by continuing the work that he loved."

Nyan nodded wordlessly. "I should mourn the others who died with him, too."

"No one may tell you how to mourn," Teal'c said. "The SGC mourns. You miss your friend."

"Yes," Nyan said quietly. Teal'c sat again and let Nyan lean against his shoulder. "I miss him."

XXXXX

**_17 December 2000; Chicago, Illinois; 1400 hrs (CST)_ **

Daniel remembered the first time Robert had mentioned his sister--it had been in passing one winter when he'd been planning to take a few days off to visit her and had ended up quarantined on base instead. Rachel, he'd called her, and the only thing Daniel remembered thinking at the time was that their family must have liked alliteration, because Rachel Rothman had married a man named Nitwit Richardson. Later, he'd learned the word 'nitwit' and decided that Robert just must not like his brother-in-law.

It didn't seem funny anymore. Not much did.

Robert's sister was a lecturer at the same university where he had studied, working toward an English professorship, and she lived nearby. It seemed that everywhere Daniel looked on the way to the funeral home, he could vaguely remember Robert pointing something out to him from the last time they had been here. It was good, he supposed, that Jack had come with him. He might have gotten lost otherwise.

"You feeling okay?" Jack said when they were outside the funeral home. Daniel nodded, even though sitting in one position on a plane for so long had left him sore and stiff, and he hadn't brought the pills Janet had given him. He wasn't dead; that was more than SG-11 could say.

Jack sighed for the fourth time that morning but didn't argue. Daniel let himself feel irritated at the excessive solicitude, mostly because it saved him from certain other things he couldn't acknowledge if he wanted to get through the day.

The ceremony was brief and almost formulaic--except without the body to bury--and exactly what Daniel had read about such funerals. Prayers, remembrances, murmured condolences...

He didn't understand most of the Hebrew being recited, but then, he didn't understand some of the English, either. Robert would have told him to pay attention. Death rituals were an important part of religion and culture and society, and it was important to listen to the language, too, and observe people's behaviors and interactions, and Daniel couldn't. Instead, he sat still and prayed silently to his own people's gods, even though he wasn't sure he'd ever truly believed they existed, even before he'd joined a war against enemies with their names.

People trickled out little by little. No one paid them any attention--Jack was in dark, formal civilian clothing so they stood out as little as possible, and Daniel barely noticed that they'd trickled away, too, until they were standing in front of the building where Robert's sister lived.

And then, just as they reached the right floor, the door to the apartment opened and a familiar-looking man stepped out.

"Dr. Jordan?" Daniel said as the door closed quietly and left them standing in a hallway.

The archaeologist turned to look at him before seeming to recognize him. "I remember you. You're--you were Robert's assistant," Dr. Jordan said, sounding tired. "Daniel, wasn't it?"

Jack glanced at him. Daniel nodded and said, "Yes, sir. This is my supervisor, Colonel O'Neill. We..." He stopped. Saying they'd known Robert was unnecessarily stating the obvious and not particularly relevant.

"Colonel," Dr. Jordan echoed, and Daniel realized he was making careless mistakes--not breaking cover, exactly, but not staying unnoticeable, either. It wasn't a secret that they worked for the military, but if he'd said 'Jack O'Neill,' fewer people would think to ask questions.

"Doctor. I've heard of you from Daniel and Dr. Rothman," Jack said, stepping forward and extending a hand. Dr. Jordan accepted it--an automatic response to the introduction, just as the introduction had been an automatic response from Daniel. A lot of things felt automatic today.

Dr. Jordan held on just a moment longer than usual. "His sister says the Air Force representative who came by wasn't able to tell her what happened."

Daniel found himself looking at the floor. Calmly, Jack said, "I'm sorry. Dr. Rothman's work was classified, including his last project."

_Last project._

"Sir," Daniel said, "Robert left a--there was something he left for you. We were...uh...going to--"

"Can we find you somewhere later today?" Jack said when Daniel faltered.

"I'll be working in my lab today, probably until late at night," Dr. Jordan said. "If you come by, I'll let you in."

"Thank you. We'll do that," Jack said.

"Will I be able to ask questions?" Dr. Jordan said.

Jack paused, then said, "You can ask. I can't promise we'll be able to answer."

Dr. Jordan nodded, looking resigned. "I assume you're here for Mrs. Richardson," he said. "I wouldn't bother her much unless she wants to speak to you."

"Yes, sir," Daniel said.

Once they were inside, he found that Robert's sister wasn't eager to talk to anyone affiliated with the Air Force. Her husband seemed nice enough, though it was taking all of Daniel's concentration just to answer when someone said something and not do anything wrong. Jack was good at this, though--or maybe just used to it--and made quick introductions and said what Daniel should probably be saying himself.

A small box exchanged hands, the one containing a few personal items they'd found at the SGC that had been listed in the will: a photo small enough to fit in his wallet, a book she'd written and autographed with a joke, a posthumous medal of valor that no one would ever be able to explain to her, a tiny clay statue that had always stood with the off-world artifacts... Daniel had no idea what the significance of that last one was, but he'd checked their records, and it definitely wasn't alien in origin or SGC property at all. Maybe Mrs. Richardson would understand. The rest of Robert's belongings weren't in the SGC and could be handled later by someone else.

Her husband looked uncertainly at the box. "I'll give this to her," he finally said, awkward in the way of someone mourning on behalf of someone else. "Look, uh...no offence, but I don't think she wants to talk to your people right now."

Jack nodded emotionlessly. "I understand. Please give her our condolences."

...x...

That evening, just before the museum's doors closed for the night, Daniel led Jack to the lab where Robert had taken him a year ago. Dr. Jordan wasn't there, but Steven Rayner was. Jack knocked on the doorframe and Dr. Rayner looked up.

"Can I help..." he started, and then stopped. "Oh."

"Dr. Rayner," Daniel greeted, mostly so Jack would know who the man was.

Sure enough, Jack took over to say, "Dr. Rayner, I'm Jack O'Neill. Is Dr. Jordan around? He said we could find him here."

"You're here about Robert Rothman." Rayner stood up and moved from behind the lab bench. "Yeah, he's in his office," he said, but didn't move toward the door that Daniel remembered connected the lab to the back office. Radiating hostility, he added, "What are you doing here?"

Daniel could feel Jack stiffening, becoming defensive without really moving or even changing his expression. "We attended Dr. Rothman's memorial service, and Daniel wanted to drop something off while we were here."

"Something?" Rayner echoed.

"It's a book," Daniel said. "It had _David Jordan_ written in it. And a few others books, actually--Robert's, uh...his will said he wanted to leave some of them to the lab for student use, and since we were going to be here, I thought we could drop them off before we go."

"My friend left here to work for you and came back dead," Rayner said, and if Daniel hadn't been so numbly tired, he would have flinched. "Actually, he didn't even come _back_. And all you'll say is that he left us stuff in his will?"

"Colonel," Dr. Jordan's voice called, thankfully turning Rayner's scowl away in the other direction. "I'm glad you came. Please, have a seat." He gestured toward the end of a desk. "Excuse the clutter. We've just had a big shipment of artifacts come in."

Rayner still looked suspicious of them and not a little angry. Daniel remembered well the man's prickly disposition, but he also remembered seeing Rayner laugh while reminiscing over some past expedition with Robert. Robert had been his assistant and coworker once, too, and in a lab as small as this one, they would have known each other well.

Now, Jordan told Rayner, "Sarah talked to Jim Smith from radiology when she got back from the memorial. He said he'll be in his lab tonight and it's relatively empty right now, so she's working on the scan of the jar there."

With another look at Jack, Rayner finally picked up a coat and said, "I'll go see if she needs help, Professor, if you're staying here."

"Thank you, Steven," Jordan said, nodding to Dr. Rayner as he left before joining Jack and Daniel at the table.

"Um. These are the books I was talking about," Daniel said, handing over the pile he'd picked out of Robert's personal rows of books according to what had been written in the will.

" _Gardiner's_?" Dr. Jordan said abruptly, setting down the books and opening the one on top. "Ah, this is the one with my notes written all over it. I wondered where this had gone. My goodness, he must have grabbed it by mistake three years ago. Well...thank you for bringing these."

"Least we could do," Jack said.

Dr. Jordan nodded, slowly closing the introductory grammar text and putting it aside. "I appreciate it. Now...I understand," he said carefully, "that there are considerations--" He stopped, then started again. "I've had friends and colleagues who work on things about which I cannot ask. I'm not sure I've ever worked with someone who, in the end, _died_ for something about which I cannot ask."

"We were on a dig," Daniel said.

It wasn't until Jack snapped, "Daniel," that he realized he'd said it.

"That's not a secret," Daniel said stiffly, though it was borderline-- _everything_ Robert did for the SGC was a secret, but archaeological work of some sort was at least part of his cover story.

Jordan gave both of them a look, as if he wanted to ask and was trying not to. Daniel said, "We were on a dig. He wanted me to see what it was like. We thought it was safe and it wasn't." Trying not to sound bitter, because this was how it worked and he knew it, he added, "Further details are classified."

"It wasn't safe," Jordan repeated, then gestured to his own cheek. "I don't suppose you can tell me whether it has to do with that cut on your face. Or those bandages you're hiding under your sleeve."

"No," Jack said firmly as Daniel self-consciously pulled his sleeves further down over his wrists. "We can't tell you that."

Daniel looked away as Dr. Jordan's eyes flicked back to him. He found himself staring instead at an open lab notebook on the table. Next to it was an image of a canopic jar with a depiction of Osiris, and on the side of the jar was written--

_Goa'uld_.

While Daniel's eyes remained frozen in place, Dr. Jordan started, "There's a lot I'd like to ask, and I know there's--"

"Where did you get this?" Daniel interrupted. No one answered. Finally, he tore his eyes away to see both of them staring at him, Jack confused but alert and Dr. Jordan just confused. "How did you get this photograph?"

There was another brief pause. And then, "My...camera," Dr. Jordan said.

"Daniel?" Jack said, looking at the picture, too--he could recognize Goa'uld writing, even if he  couldn't read it. It said something about... _Setesh_ and _Osiris_ and _..._ what was that word... _banished_... "What is that?"

"A canopic jar," Daniel said. A vessel like that should hold internal organs, and, according to myth, Setesh had put Osiris into a box to seal him away. He knew the Goa'uld Osiris had hidden on Kheb to escape from Setesh, but at some point, Setesh must have caught him and...what? Sealed him away, maybe, and it _could_ have been in a canopic jar.

"That's right," Dr. Jordan was saying mildly. "Excuse me, what--"

Dr. Jordan's comment about taking the picture finally registered, and Daniel said, looking around the room, "It's here? That jar is _here_ somewhere?"

Dr. Jordan picked up the photograph, looked at it again himself, and said sternly, "What is this about?"

The jar was nowhere that Daniel could see. If it was in Dr. Jordan's possession, and if the symbiote was still alive... Daniel glanced at Jack, then said, "Do a lot of your artifacts have those kinds of symbols on them--that particular writing?"

"You recognize the writing?" Jordan said, looking so amazed that Daniel thought there was no way he was pretending...but they'd just gone through days of finding out just how hard it could be to know when a person had been taken by a Goa'uld, especially when they didn't know the person well. "Well, what is it? What does it say?"

"Snake?" Jack said to Daniel instead, looking around them as if to assess the exits and then fixing his gaze firmly on Dr. Jordan.

"Maybe," Daniel said. Jack flicked his eyes toward Jordan and raised his eyebrows. "I don't know." At this distance, he wouldn't have sensed anything from Dr. Jordan if the man had been a Goa'uld.

"Dr. Jordan," Jack said, standing up--asserting authority, Daniel recognized, and preparing for conflict at the same time--"how did you come into possession of that object?"

"It's a canopic jar, Colonel," Jordan said sharply, standing, too. "It was found decades ago and was just shipped here recently."

"Was it found inside a sarcophagus?" Daniel said. That would have been normal for an artifact like that on Earth, but if the jar had Goa'uld writing about Osiris on it and there was a myth about Osiris being trapped in a jar, and since they knew sarcophagi were Goa'uld devices...

Jordan folded his arms, starting to look very irritated. "As a matter of fact, no, it wasn't," he said, his words clipped. "It's just a jar, and there are more like it in the museum downstairs."

When Jack's eyebrows rose in alarm, Daniel said, "But not with that writing on them, yes?" He rose to reach across the table, pointing to the Goa'uld symbols in the picture and letting his hand brush against Dr. Jordan's as he did. He caught Jack's glance and shook his head in relief. No naquadah in Dr. Jordan that he could feel.

"And _what_ writing would you say this is? This is getting a little ridiculous. Why--"

"Where is it now?" Jack said.

"If I tell you," Dr. Jordan said, not intimidated, "you'll do what--confiscate it without telling me a thing, and I'll never see it again, is that it?"

_Just like Robert Rothman_ , he didn't say. Daniel heard it anyway.

He rubbed his eyes. He was too tired for this.

That was no excuse. There was no such thing as 'too tired' when there was a Goa'uld around. Daniel forced himself to shake off the fog and look around the lab at the artifacts scattered throughout, then focused on several that were spread on a nearby bench. "Probably," Jack was saying. "We're being completely serious. I can get a Presidential order like _that_ "--he snapped his fingers--"for something like this if you refuse to tell us what you know."

"Can you," Jordan countered. "That would be a sight to see, considering that these artifacts don't belong to the United States of America. If they're abused, they'll be sent back to the Egyptian government."

"This is a matter of national security," Jack said impatiently. "We need to know who gave you that jar, where you put it and what you're planning on doing with it. You have no idea what you're dealing with here..."

Dr. Jordan placed his hands on his hips. "I'm getting tired of being told what I can and can't know, Colonel."

"...and," Jack said, "if you _do_ know what that is, then we have even more questions for you."

"It's a canopic jar! I think I'd be able to recognize one by now."

Daniel made a decision and said, "This is what killed Robert."

"Daniel!" Jack warned again as Dr. Jordan's eyebrows shot up.

But Jack would get over it, and it was the right move to make, so Daniel barreled on and pointed at the picture. "This--this kind of thing...last time this happened, five men died, including Robert Rothman. I know what you think it is, but you said it wasn't found with a sarcophagus, and that--those symbols...you don't find it suspicious?"

"I find it _interesting_ ," Jordan said, frowning. "Anomalous but not out of the realm of reasonable finds. I don't have any reason to believe it's anything else. You're saying it's...what, a code of some sort?"

"I'm saying it's very dangerous," Daniel said tightly. "Please, Doctor. Just..."

The telephone rang.

Dr. Jordan glanced at it, and for a moment Daniel thought he was going to ignore it. Then he walked to the desk and picked it up. "Jordan lab," he answered shortly.

Daniel looked harder at the picture of the until he felt Jack's stare. "Goa'uld in the jar?" Jack whispered.

"Could be," Daniel answered, just as softly. "Fits the myth _perfectly_. The jar could be some kind of device we've never seen before."

"You see it? Here?"

He shook his head.

Then Dr. Jordan's voice said loudly, "What? How did that..." He turned around again to look at Jack and Daniel, his expression stunned. "Are they hurt? ... Yes, _they_ \--Drs. Gardner and Rayner, they were in the Smith lab... What? How many?"

Confused, Daniel looked at Jack, who was staring intently at Dr. Jordan.

Dr. Jordan stared back at them. Deliberately, he said into the phone, "They were running a CT scan on a canopic jar. That's where the accident was?"

"Oh no," Daniel said, imagining a Goa'uld loose on Earth.

"Call the Mountain--get Hammond, Carter, Teal'c, Ferretti, whoever's on base at this hour," Jack ordered quietly, handing him a phone. "Now, Daniel."

Dr. Jordan was hanging up just as Daniel dialed himself and heard someone answer. "Sam, it's me," he said, relieved she was still at work.

_"Daniel,"_ she said, sounding surprised. _"How are you doi--"_

"We have a situation, Sam," Daniel said quickly before she could start into condolences. "You have to get General Hammond right now."

Dr. Jordan was pulling on a coat and rushing out the door, speaking to Jack. Jack turned, gestured for Daniel to follow, and said, "Explosion--we don't know what happened yet."

_"Daniel?"_ Sam said.

Pulling his attention back to the phone, Daniel hurried after them down the halls. "There's an artifact--a jar with"--he looked around, lowered his voice--"Goa'uld symbols. Jack and I have only seen a photo, but two people were studying it, and we don't know what happened, but there was an explosion or something, less than a minute ago. We suspect...a snake inside."

_"Stand by, I'm getting the general,"_ she said. _"Put Colonel O'Neill on the line."_

Daniel caught up to the two men and told Jack, "It's Sam."

"Did you tell her?" Jack said, taking the phone from him.

"As much as I know," Daniel said. They were downstairs, now, and stepping out onto the nighttime street. "Dr. Jordan? Where are we going?"

"Steven and Sarah were at the radiology center's research lab--the imaging facilities here are being used," Dr. Jordan said worriedly. "They don't know how many people were injured." He stopped before they could cross a street and took hold of Daniel's arm while Jack was distracted on the phone. "My students could be hurt. Please--just tell me what's going on!"

"I--I can't," Daniel said, his own frustration mounting. "I swear, I don't even know for certain what--"

"What's the name of the building?" Jack said suddenly, pulling Dr. Jordan's hand away from Daniel and catching the man's attention at the same time. "We need to tell local law enforcement to seal it off."

"It--it could be something else," Jordan said, but he didn't sound like he was convincing even himself now. "It might have nothing to do with--"

"Never mind, Carter's got it," Jack said. Daniel followed Dr. Jordan across the campus, imagining Sam already passing a phone to the general to speak to the local police. "Let's go."

"Jack," Daniel said as they continued on. "I'm not"-- _armed_ \--"equipped for anything."

"Neither am I," Jack said. "But neither is he. Hard part's gonna be figuring out who he is. We'll coordinate with the police until our people get here."

"He?" Jordan echoed.

_Gender-neutral unless its host is male_ , Daniel just barely stopped himself from saying. "It could be anything, Jack," he warned. "It might not be what we think, but it could be just as dangerous in...in another way." Explosives, destructive devices, diseases, chemical agents...they'd seen the Goa'uld use all of those, and any number of them could be concealed within a canopic jar.

"Yeah, we're not equipped for that," Jack agreed. "But we need to get the investigation and everything else contained _first_." Sirens wailed, and an ambulance sped past them down the street, followed by a line of police cars and two fire trucks. "They're on their way here."

Dr. Jordan looked bewildered at their conversation and the line of passing vehicles. "Why? Who?"

"My team," Jack said, absently handing his phone to Daniel. Daniel stared at it for a second, not sure what he was supposed to do with it, then stuffed it into a pocket.

...x...

"Sarah!" Dr. Jordan called as they neared the building. Daniel squinted in the dark, past the glare of lights and milling people, some in uniform and others clearly students and bystanders, and finally saw a familiar, light-haired woman sitting in the back of an ambulance. He almost expected to see the building on fire--wasn't that what happened when something exploded?--but there was nothing visible through the night from the outside to tell him anything had happened, aside from a faint haze of smoke lingering near the site.

The woman looked up as Dr. Jordan hurried toward her. "That's Dr. Sarah Gardner," Daniel said at Jack's questioning look. "Dr. Rayner said he was coming here to help her with the jar. She's probably been studying it."

"Then you start there," Jack said, motioning him toward her. "I need to talk to the police first. Take out your ID, and call me if anyone gives you trouble."

"...keep expecting them to ask me something," Dr. Gardner was saying, wrapped in a blanket and clutching Dr. Jordan's hand. "But they said just to sit and...and wait for whoever's taking over the investigation, but I don't know what--"

"It's all right," Dr. Jordan soothed, taking a seat next to her. As Daniel neared, he could see that the side of her face was covered in a darkening bruise. "Are you hurt?"

"No," she said, bringing a hand toward her mouth. "Not much, but... Oh, god--Steven--Dr. Jordan, I don't understand what happened."

"Where is Steven?" Dr. Jordan said urgently. "Was he with you?"

"We were alone," she said, "and--" She stopped, pulling the blanket tighter around herself.

"Dr. Gardner," Daniel said, drawing their attention. He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "I don't know if you remember, but we met last year at a symposium. I'm Daniel Jackson, with the Air Force--we're taking charge of the situation, and I need to ask you some questions about what happened."

"I think questions can wait until we know if everyone's safe!" Dr. Jordan said.

"I'm sorry," Daniel repeated for what had to be the fiftieth time in the last day. "This really cannot wait. Dr. Gardner, you were examining the Osiris jar, yes?"

"I--yes," Gardner said, looking too stunned to argue. "With Steven. We got on the scanner in the Smith lab, but we never finished." She stopped.

"Why not?" Daniel said sharply, leaning closer.

"We... " she said, staring at him. "I couldn't..."

Frustrated when she trailed off again, he repeated, "What _happened_?"

"You need to back off," Dr. Jordan said, standing up and imposing himself between the two of them.

Daniel raised his hands and took a step back, but he leaned around Dr. Jordan until he could see Sarah Gardner looking up at him in confusion. "What happened in there?" he said again. "Where is Dr. Rayner?"

"He attacked me," she said.

Dr. Jordan froze and turned around. "What? Sarah!"

"I-I don't know," Gardner said, touching her bruised cheek. "H-he just--there was an error in the sequence. I set the size parameters wrong, and I turned around to the computer to fix it. And Steven was--he hit me! And then he left, and before I could do anything, there was that gas leak in the lab down the hall..."

"Gas leak," Daniel said, looking back to search for Jack. "A gas leak?"

"That's what the fire department is guessing," Gardner said. "The whole floor--four of us got out, but I could have sworn there were others there, too, and I haven't seen them..."

"And Steven... But Sarah, that's impossible," Dr. Jordan said. Gardner ducked her head and rocked forward very slightly, and he sat back down next to her.

"Steven Rayner," Daniel repeated. "Where was he going?"

"I don't know!" she exclaimed. "How should I--why would he have--"

"That's enough," Jordan snapped. 

"Yes, sir, that's all," Daniel said. He reached up for his radio, found only a shirt, and wished he were in his more familiar fatigues. "Stay here, please," he said, trying to see over heads and through the gloom to find Jack.

"What the hell is going on?" Gardner demanded. "Who _are_ you?"

"I'm Robert Rothman's assistant," Daniel said, and then thought ' _was_ ' and felt his breath stop.

This wasn't supposed to be here. The Goa'uld were supposed to stay at the SGC and through the Stargate; this part of Tau'ri was supposed to be safe from all of that, even Teal'c had said so. How _dare_ the Goa'uld be here contaminating things now, when they'd already taken Robert?

A hand on his arm snapped him back to focus. "Police have been ordered to defer to me," Jack said as Daniel blinked and surreptitiously remembered to start breathing again. "We've got our own people coming in to take over. What've you got?"

Daniel took a deep breath and shook his head. "Um--D-Dr. Steven Rayner. R-A-Y-N-E-R. He's a research associate at the university. He was in the room with the artifact and became violent...uh, and he ran just before the explosion. No one knows where he is now."

"Rayner. Got it," Jack said, as if he weren't fazed by the sudden threat on their own planet, and turned back around to the police. "Wait," he said, turning back around again. "Call the Mountain, give them an update and tell them to tighten security--they're gonna be a target if we've got one loose. And where the hell are Carter and..." He patted his pocket. "Dammit, where's my phone?"

"You gave it to me," Daniel said.

Jack frowned. "Why didn't you have _your_ phone?"

"I did."

"Then why do you have mine?"

"You gave it to me!"

Jack blinked at him. Daniel blinked back and thought of how they never had this problem when they all had their radios securely in their tactical vests.

"Give me my phone," Jack said, and Daniel quickly dug out Jack's phone and tossed it into his waiting hand before he could walk away to call Sam.

Daniel found his own, then, and glanced again at Drs. Jordan and Gardner. "Excuse me," he said, and slipped away to somewhere more quiet to make the call to the mountain.

"What's so important about that jar?" Gardner called before he could start dialing. "Why are you so interested in it?"

"And how do you know what the writing says?" Jordan added.

Gardner's eyes widened. "You can read it? No one even knows what language it is!"

"Um," Daniel said. "That's...a...I'm not allowed to--"

"It's a matter of national security," she said, sounding sarcastic. "Is that right?"

Frustrated, Daniel could only say, "I have to go, Doctor. We'll need to talk to you later."

...x...

**_17 December 2000; Chicago, Illinois; 2130 hrs (CST)_ **

More than an hour had passed by the time a knock sounded on their motel room door. "Finally," Daniel muttered, tired of sitting here and arguing with Jack about what had happened, what to do, whose fault it was, and whom to watch. Arguing with Jack seemed to be their normal and most comfortable mode of communication when they were at a loss for what else to do, but it was still aggravating and meant that they didn't know what to do.

_"Colonel O'Neill?"_ Sam's muffled voice said from outside. _"It's me and Teal'c."_

"Thank god," Jack said, and flung the door open. "It's about time!"

Sam stepped in, followed by Teal'c, both of them carrying neatly-packed bags that they dropped on one of the two beds. Jack opened one of them and immediately began rooting through it.

"Sir, Daniel," Sam said, "we've got our people at the site of the incident, but we're going to need more information about what happened before we can move forward on other fronts."

"Yeah, I'd like more information, too," Jack said. Finally, he seemed to find what he'd been looking for and tossed a bottle of pills to Daniel, who caught it without thinking. "Here."

Daniel scowled at the pain medication in his hands. "I don't need it," he said. He just had to sit where he was and not move more than he had to. He hadn't realized his feet--and everything else--were still so sore from the trek through the woods with Chaka. He couldn't believe it had only been two days.

"You mean you didn't bring the stuff Fraiser gave you. There's a difference."

"I don't need it!"

Jack gave up, because they'd argued about that already, too. "Fine. Suit yourself. Any word from the police, Major?"

"No, sir," she said, giving them apprehensive looks. "We've sent out word--if Rayner tries to get anywhere, he won't get far. What about Sarah Gardner?"

"She told us what she knows already," Daniel said. "And Dr. Jordan already told us about the shipment of artifacts and even handed over all their recent lab notebooks."

"Also," Jack added, "I've been told it's not going to stay very low-profile if we keep harassing her without a more concrete reason."

"They took her to the hospital!" Daniel said. "We can leave her alone for one night."

Jack looked like he wanted to argue more but didn't; their tempers had gotten high enough without being stoked higher. Besides, Dr. Jordan was very emphatically standing in their way about bothering her now, and the last thing they needed was to attract undue attention that would only delay them further.

"She was injured?" Teal'c said.

"Not really," Daniel said, "but they're keeping everyone who escaped the fire to check for breathing problems from the smoke, minor injuries, things like that. She's probably been released already, but it would make more sense to talk to her when we have a better idea of what to ask."

"Carter," Jack said, "tell me we've got SGC personnel taking care of the bodies in the lab that blew up."

"Yes, sir," she said, "there's a medical examiner on his way, and Teal'c and I came with a team that's taking over the investigation into what caused the explosion, too. So what's the plan now?"

Jack gestured at the five lab notebooks lying on the desk. "We've started looking for anything they might've missed--our kind of stuff. So far, we can't find anything but that Osiris jar."

"Which was destroyed in the explosion," Daniel added.

"The one with Goa'uld symbols," she said. "Did you see it at all? I mean, what did it say?"

Daniel pulled out the picture of the jar that he'd seen earlier in the lab and handed it to Teal'c. "It's part of a standard myth about Osiris, essentially--the one in which Setesh tricked him into a box, sealed it, and...well, according to the myth, threw it into the Nile River. More specifically, according to this canopic jar, Osiris was--"

"...banished into oblivion," Teal'c finished, reading off the picture.

"And by 'oblivion,'" Jack clarified, pointing at the photograph, "he meant...a clay pot."

Daniel sighed and pulled out another lab notebook to flip through for clues and said, "Of the two people who were studying it, one person attacked the other and ran away, shortly after which a lab exploded and killed an estimated three people."

"We're just lucky it was a Sunday night," Jack said. "Not as many people in the labs."

"So we think there was a Goa'uld inside the jar," Daniel said, "except that Osiris must have been imprisoned a long time ago, and the 'prison' was...well..."

"A clay pot," Jack said again. He raised his eyebrows at Teal'c. "Want to weigh in here, buddy?"

"I do not know of a technology that can keep a symbiote alive for such an extended length of time," Teal'c said, setting the photograph carefully back down. "However, I also do not believe it is impossible. Osiris could have been maintained in stasis within this object."

"Like a miniature sarcophagus," Daniel said. "In fact, canopic jars are traditionally kept with the sarcophagus--one holds the internal organs, and the other holds the rest of the body. I wouldn't be surprised if there were Goa'uld counterparts with related functions."

"The question is," Sam said, "if there was a Goa'uld trapped in there, sitting out in a desert--"

"In the ocean," Jack corrected. "It was found 70 years ago and put on a ship, and the ship sank."

"And they just found all of it again now and shipped it to the museum for cataloguing," Daniel said, frowning at a recent entry in Dr. Rayner's lab book. Did that actually say...?

"But then how did it get out?" she pressed. "Hathor was found in stasis in a sarcophagus, but she _stayed_ in stasis until she was let out."

Jack threw up his hands. "Who knows! Someone dropped it, someone opened it on purpose, whatever. The point is, it's out. Worse, there was a Goa'uld artifact and probably an actual _Goa'uld_ in a civilian lab that we would've completely missed if not for the..." He glanced at Daniel. "...memorial."

"And it's not the only one," Daniel said, ignoring the other part. He held up the notebook, pointing to a picture of an amulet. "Look--they carbon-dated the materials used to make this. Look at that date."

Jack looked. "Okay," he said. "And...?"

"It's old!" Daniel said, pressing his fingers into his eyes as his head started to throb with tension. "I mean--the paint dates back over ten thousand years. That's too old to be human Egyptian; this is Goa'uld."

Sam took the book from him. "That could be a problem. But"--she flipped to the cover to see whose book it was--"Dr. Rayner notes that another test is recommended to confirm and narrow the results. We'll have to get a hold of the artifact before anyone gets a chance to do that. What was this, an expedition to a Goa'uld stronghold?"

"Maybe it was," Daniel said, trying to read and concentrate at once. That shouldn't be hard. Why was he thinking so slowly? "They could've...could've found the base that Osiris used on Earth and didn't think it was anything more than a temple."

"There has to be an inventory somewhere that lists everything they found on that expedition," Sam said, frowning over his shoulder.

"Headache?" Jack said suddenly.

Daniel pulled his hand away from his head. "No."

"There's a bottle of Tylenol next to you," Jack pointed out.

"Will you drop it, Jack?" Daniel snapped.

"What's your problem?" Jack said, almost angrily. "Is this some Abydonian mourning thing, that you have to be in as much pain as possible after being beaten up by an Unas or you might dishonor--"

"He didn't _beat me up_ , and I can mourn however I choose!"

"Stop this immediately!" Teal'c growled at both of them. "If we are correct, then there is a Goa'uld free on this world. We must find it and stop it." He glared at Jack. "Do not use the death of Dr. Rothman in such a way." The glare turned to Daniel. "And do not use it as an excuse."

Daniel looked away, feeling the quick flare of anger drain away into nothing.

Sam cleared her throat and continued paging through one of the notebooks. Jack deliberately picked up the bottle, opened it, and shook out two pills. "We all need to be at full strength," he said. "Anything that helps you get some rest is not optional. Do I need to make it an order?"

Daniel shook his head and accepted them listlessly. "We need Robert's help," he said quietly when he'd swallowed them.

"We'll just have to make do with...the resources we have," Jack said.

"Do you know that museum?" Daniel said. "Do you know where the artifacts are from? Do you know what Osiris knows from being in Dr. Rayner's mind? We need someone who knows Egyptian archaeology and Egypt _and_ knows how things work in that lab."

"You knew a hell of a lot just by looking at that picture," Jack said. "We can--"

"That's not good enough!" Daniel burst out. "I know mythology, language, and guns. I don't know Earth! I can't replace--" He bit his tongue and stood, abruptly enough to make stiffened muscles protest as he moved toward the bag Teal'c had brought, looking for something--anything--to occupy his hands.

"Carter, let me see that book," Jack said evenly. "D'you bring a first aid kit?"

"Yes, sir," Sam said, and a minute later she was tapping Daniel on the shoulder. "I'm just gonna make sure everything's healing okay. Let's step into the bathroom."

Daniel sighed and followed her in, closing the door behind him and sitting on a closed toilet seat to let her replace the gauze on his feet and arms.

"I'm not thinking right," he said as she pulled away his shirt and checked to make sure he wasn't in imminent danger of infection or anything else. "I need to focus."

"You need to rest," she countered, not looking up.

He laughed shortly. "It's too bad we're witnessing the rise of a System Lord on Earth, then."

She finished in silence, then handed him a t-shirt. "You're being melodramatic, which tells me you need a good rest," she repeated. "Someone will find Rayner, we'll send him to the Tok'ra, and Osiris can be killed once and for all. And then we'll take some downtime. God knows we could all use it."

"We don't have an Egyptologist anymore," he said, wincing as he stretched to pull the shirt on. "With Ra so prominent for so long, Egyptian history and mythology is too important not to have a trained expert on base."

Sam waited until he was dressed again but didn't get up from where she was crouched before him. "People have argued a lot about you, but the one thing no one has ever doubted is your competence," she said. "We don’t expect you to replace Dr. Rothman, Daniel, just like we'd never expect him to replace you if your positions had been reversed."

Tears prickled suddenly at Daniel's eyes. "Maybe they should have been. We lost him and kept me. It was so close to being... It should have been switched."

"Don't ever say that," she whispered fiercely. "Dr. Rothman wouldn't have wanted you to think like that, and you know it." She stood up, fingers probing the back of his head to check where he'd been knocked out days ago.

Daniel leaned forward until his forehead touched Sam's stomach. "What am I supposed to do, Sam?" he asked.

She stopped and brushed her hand more gently through his hair. "One crisis at a time. When we get home, we'll pull through, I promise. But tonight, tomorrow--we have a Goa'uld to deal with. You said you'd normally ask for help on this kind of thing. So. We need your opinion--what do we do right now about the Goa'uld?"

He forced his alarmingly sluggish mind back onto the topic, pulling back and shaking his head in an attempt to clear it. "Okay. First. Okay. Uh...see if Jack and Teal'c have found an inventory of the Steward expedition. Find out what we can about those artifacts and the expedition otherwise, on our own or...or from people who know more about it."

"Okay," she said, holding out a hand to help him up. "Let's go. We'll start there."


	14. Curse of Osiris

**_18 December 2000; Chicago, Illinois; 0730 hrs (CST)_ **

The phone's ringing woke Jack the next morning. Daniel slept through the sound and barely stirred when Jack shifted on their bed to answer the phone. Rustling from the other bed told him that Teal'c and Carter were awake.

By the time Jack hung up, Teal'c had switched on the light and Carter was almost finished dressing. Jack leaned over to shake Daniel's shoulder. "Come on, get up," he said. Once he was sure everyone was at least awake, he repeated, "Get up. Get in gear. Everyone carry your handguns and keep your zats out of sight."

"What happened?" Daniel said, rolling stiffly out of bed as Carter pulled out and distributed gear for them all.

"That was Captain Lasair, head of the security team we brought here--they found Steven Rayner," Jack said.

Daniel sped up and pulled on his boots. "Where is he? Where's he going?"

"He was found in the radiology building, and he's going nowhere. Ever again."

Carter stopped in the middle of strapping on her sidearm. "Rayner's dead?" she said. "I thought he made a run for it and escaped before the--"

"Yeah, so did we," Jack said. "Guess who's the one person who saw him run, because everyone else who should've seen him conveniently died in a lab accident?"

"Dr. Gardner," Daniel said, his eyes wide. "Then _she's_..."

"They checked--there's no symbiote in Rayner, and no scar other than from the blow that killed him," Jack said. "He's not our Goa'uld. There's a team on the way to Gardner and Jordan's homes now. We're going to meet them in their lab, pick out whatever else they've got stashed away in the museum, and figure this thing out right now."

"But I should have noticed if there had been enough naquadah--" Daniel started, and then, "I never got close enough. She was upset, and I kept my distance."

"So here's the situation," Jack said, finishing quickly and passing out zat guns. "We've got one Goa'uld, probably named Osiris and probably in the body of an Egyptologist named Sarah Gardner. The bad news is that it knows everything she knows, and that's a hell of a lot about the Goa'uld artifacts that got fished out of the ocean. Did anyone ever find that inventory?"

"No," Teal'c said.

"We'll have to find that in the lab. The good news is Gardner has no clue about the Stargate or the Goa'uld, so if she's Osiris, that means Osiris is probably assuming no one on this planet knows anything. We should be able to take her by surprise."

"She knows I recognized the Goa'uld writing," Daniel said, tying his laces and tucking his zat gun away. "Dr. Jordan mentioned it, and...damn. It definitely caught her attention. She must know that we know something about the Goa'uld."

Jack closed his eyes for a second, not sure whether to berate Daniel for not picking up the clues sooner or himself for having been fooled, too. "We'll just have to shoot her before she can run or shoot us back," he said finally.

"Shoot her with a zat," Daniel said.

"With a zat," Jack agreed, but he handed a loaded pistol to Daniel even so. "Unless you're forced. Number one priority is to get rid of the Goa'uld."

Daniel faltered in the middle of strapping the holster on, but he stayed silent. Jack hoped no one would end up having to kill another Goa'ulded archaeologist today.

"Teal'c and I have never seen this woman before, sir," Carter said as she pulled the door open and waited for them to follow.

"She's...blond, uh...thin, tall," Jack said, but beyond that, he didn't remember much about the woman.

"About my height, more in her shoes," Daniel filled in. "She speaks some non-rhotic dialect of English--"

"She's British," Jack said, stepping into their car as the rest of them piled in behind him. "But no one make any assumptions--the snake could've jumped at any time, or we could be wrong, so if in doubt, use a zat or shoot to incapacitate and we'll sort it out later. Teal'c, Carter, I don't want my naquadah detectors standing next to each other, so spread out--as soon as one of you senses something, say it."

"O'Neill," Teal'c said as they pulled out of the parking lot, "if I can sense the Goa'uld, then surely the Goa'uld will also be able to sense my symbiote."

"And she'll be stuck in a closed lab," Jack said. "Just say as soon as you sense it, and we'll run in and finish it off. Daniel, go for your weapon if you have to, but otherwise, stay out of the action and handle the civilians if they give us any trouble."

...x...

**_18 December 2000; Chicago, Illinois; 0800 hrs (CST)_ **

Jack wasn't particularly fond of standing around playing solve-the-riddle with a bunch of archaeologists, and he wouldn't have had a problem with packing up everything in Jordan's lab and shipping it all back to Colorado until they knew for sure what was Goa'uld and what wasn't.

Still, they arrived to find an elderly, wide-eyed archaeologist with his hands in the air and two SG security personnel guarding him, so Jack let himself feel just a little bad for the man. "Teal'c?"

"He is not," Teal'c said succinctly. "It is nowhere in this vicinity."

"Stand down," Jack ordered. The airmen lowered their weapons. Dr. Jordan looked only slightly relieved. "Where's Gardner?"

"They can't find her, sir," the airman said.

"What?" Daniel blurted from behind.

"We've been too focused on Rayner," Carter muttered.

"They said that Steven's dead," Jordan said, looking pale and too shocked to be upset yet. "They closed the building for the day, for investigation, and--"

"Yeah," Jack said, frustrated, but managed enough composure to add, "Sorry for your loss, Doc. Look, does anyone have any idea where Gardner went? Car, credit card...hell, _footprints_..."

"They're working on it now, sir," the airman said.

"Jack, T...Murray and I need to look at the other artifacts," Daniel said. Teal'c turned to him, a cap still fitted over his head to cover his tattoo, and raised an eyebrow.

Jack glanced at the closed door, then gestured to it, saying, "Dr. Jordan, you've got a key, right? We need to get in."

Dr. Jordan stood slowly. Jack was tempted to tell him to stop stalling, except that it really wasn't the archaeologist's fault so much as it was the fault of idiots who went around telling him out of the blue that his assistants were killed or killers. "We won't damage anything in there," Daniel promised. "Unless anything's related to these incidents, and then we'll have to take them to another facility for analysis, but that'd be better for you, anyway."

"Right," Jordan said woodenly, opening the door for them.

Just before they went in, Daniel said, "Don't touch anything, Jack."

"Excuse me?" Jack said, indignant.

"Don't touch," Daniel repeated sternly, then followed Jordan to a lab bench. Jack turned to Carter, who shrugged minutely.

"Dr. Jordan," she said, while Teal'c and Daniel sniffed around the mess of _stuff_ that had been dredged up from the ocean. "I'm Major Samantha Carter--you already know the colonel and Daniel, and that's Murray. Do you have a record, or an inventory of the artifacts found with the, uh...the Steward expedition?"

"Um..." Jordan rubbed the bridge of his nose, then said, "Yes, I do. We have a print copy here, but a lot of items were mislabeled or misplaced, so we're still sorting them out."

She accepted a packet of paper, but, after quickly skimming over the top sheet, said, "I don't know where to start." Jack looked over her shoulder to see a list of items with descriptions that he didn't find particularly descriptive. He thought there should be pictures next to them. "Daniel," she said, "take a look at this."

"What?" Daniel said distractedly, moving to another bench. "Sam, hold on. Where's the--Dr. Rayner's notebook mentioned an amulet of some sort. Remember? I said it probably wasn't...what it seemed to be? I don't see it anywhere."

"The Osiris amulet?" Jordan said, frowning and joining the search.

Jack's eyebrows shot upward. Somehow, he was getting the feeling that this wasn't going to be a coincidence.

"Yes, I think so," Daniel said. "From the photograph in the lab book, it looked like a gold amulet depicting Osiris, wearing the Atef crown and carrying the crook and flail. You'd done C-14 dating on it and found it to be...very old."

Jordan paused. "Robert Rothman's thesis topic was on artifacts that seemed older than they were thought to be," he said. "He switched topics when we couldn't get the funding or committee approval, but three years later your organization recruited him. And now he's dead, and I have a student dead and another missing, and you're looking for a ten thousand-year-old amulet?"

Daniel's back was to the man, but he looked up at Jack. "Um," he said.

"Dr. Jordan, we really need to find this item and anything else that you think is out of the ordinary," Carter said. "As you said, your student is missing, and you know now that this _is_ a matter of life and death."

"A matter of...yes," Jordan said, sounding rattled. He looked down at the table where all the other artifacts were. "Of course. It should be...right here. We definitely left it here--in fact, I...I remember seeing it last night."

"So it's gone missing since then," Daniel said, turning to Jack with wide eyes.

Jordan shook his head. "I'll go to the archives to see if it's just been placed there by accident." He hesitated at the door.

"We'll stay here," Jack said. "Major Carter will go with you." Carter reached into her pocket, turned on her handheld naquadah detector, and followed.

...x...

Later, after no one could find any amulets or figure out why the hell and what the hell, Jack's phone rang.

_"Sarah Gardner boarded a plane to Cairo, Egypt four hours ago,"_ Hammond's voice said when he answered.

"Crap," Jack said. He covered the mouthpiece and told the quiet room, "Gardner's on a plane to Cairo with a head start." Daniel frowned, snatched the expedition inventory out of Teal'c's hands, and flipped quickly through it.

_"...good thing is that you might be able to get there faster than her commercial flight will take if you leave now,"_ Hammond was saying. _"There's a plane waiting for you, but we have no idea where she's going once she gets there."_

"The amulet and the canopic jar were found at a dig...this is close to Cairo, I think," Daniel said. "We--we'd have to find out where those temples are and how to get there--"

"I've been to those locations," Dr. Jordan spoke up. "I can tell you where they are."

_"Colonel?"_

"We might know where she's heading, sir," Jack answered. "We're leaving now."

_"I'm alerting the Egyptian authorities,"_ Hammond said. _"The airport will be expecting you, but past that, keep this as low-profile as we can. Good luck, Colonel."_

Jack hung up and said, "Doctor, we need location, coordinates, whatever you can give us."

"I don't have coordinates off-hand," Jordan said, "and I can think of two different places where they might be--"

"Can you tell us on the way to the plane?"

Jordan's eyebrows shot up, but he said, "I--yes. I can."

"Let's move it," Jack said. "Don't worry," he added to Dr. Jordan as they hurried to their car, "someone will drive you back here from the air base."

...x...

**_18 December 2000; Chicago, Illinois; 1400 hrs (CST)_ **

As always, Jack had underestimated the complications.

"I'm coming with you," Jordan said.

"You're joking, right?" Jack said, even as he thought about how long Hammond would ground him for that particular _low-profile_ way of doing things. The man wasn't exactly in his physical prime, either. "Doc, this isn't an excavation. People are dying--"

"And two of those dead people used to work for me," Jordan snapped back, "and you're acting like a third one of my assistants is...I don't even know what you think she is. If you're wrong about where Sarah was taken--or if I'm wrong--then you'll need my help to find out where she _did_ go. Unless you know your way around Ancient Egyptian dig sites?"

"The danger is far too great, Dr. Jordan," Teal'c put in.

"Well, the need is too great to ignore me as a resource," Jordan retorted.

Jack glanced to the side, where Carter was sitting. She looked torn, which, considering the danger, meant she thought the need might be pretty great, too.

"Robert trusted him," Daniel said. Jack looked into the mirror again to see him sitting stiffly in his seat and not looking at anyone. "Completely. Maybe we should, too."

"Well," Jordan said. He faltered a little, then said, "Robert spoke highly of your character before as well, and right now, Sarah Gardner is my responsibility."

"Dammit," Jack swore, then said, "Gardner's involvement doesn't give you any rights except a guard to make sure something doesn't happen to you, too."

"And if you need a guide?" Jordan said. "It can be hard to find those places unless you know what you're looking for--there aren't road signs pointing to them. And unless the Air Force wants to be seen tearing through the Egyptian countryside, you'll need someone who can talk to people and sound like a tourist or a local researcher, not a foreign military officer."

"Daniel can--" Jack started.

"Jack," Daniel said, his tone tinged around the edges with desperation, "I can speak the language, but I wouldn't know what to _do_."

Jack wondered if it was an archaeologist thing, sticking their noses into things, or if it was just something about archaeologists whose students were missing. He wondered if he was about to get this one killed, too. But if they screwed this up, a Goa'uld loose on Earth was going to be a hell of a lot worse than a bunch of dead archaeologists.

"As a guide," Jack finally said. "You can come with us _only_ as a guide, and when we get back to the States, you're going to sit through the longest debriefing you've ever imagined. When we get to Cairo, you obey my orders, or Daniel will restrain you."

"I will?" Daniel said warily.

"Which doctor cleared you for duty, again?" Jack said pointedly. Daniel didn't answer. "And no deliberate participation in hostilities--"

"Jack--"

"--so you guard Dr. Jordan and keep the two of you out of trouble. Take it, or I'll leave both of you here in Illinois."

Another glance back showed Daniel and Dr. Jordan exchanging a wary look. "Yes, sir," Daniel said.

Jack shook his head. "The general's going to kill me," he muttered.

...x...

The plane was cramped and noisy, and no one but Jack and Carter seemed to understand anything about what to do on aircraft like this, but it was just the five of them and a pilot, too. Jack found himself grateful for the noise. Privacy made it easy to forget that there was someone with them without proper clearance, but at least the engines' roar covered it up when they slipped--enough, for instance, to pretend Daniel had just said 'T' and not a funny, alien-sounding name like 'Teal'c' ("It's a...an inside joke," Carter said to Dr. Jordan as Daniel looked apologetic for slipping. "Long story.").

"The amulet and the jar were found in different temples," Jordan said once they were in the air. "Which one are you looking for?"

"Temples to whom?" Daniel said. "Osiris and Setesh?"

Jordan looked surprised at the guess but answered, "The amulet was found in a temple to Seth, actually, yes, and the canopic jar was in a temple to Osiris. Most of the artifacts were from one or the other of those sites. But the temples are a good distance from each other, so I'd advise you to decide now where you're going."

Jack opened his mouth to say something, but, following procedure or not, he didn't think he should make things any worse by blabbing every single one of their secrets. The others seemed to have the same idea and were quiet, too. Then Teal'c said, "I believe the substance in the canopic jars has served its purpose. We must concern ourselves with the stolen amulet. Such an item could be extremely valuable."

"Sarah wouldn't have taken it for money," Jordan protested.

"No, she wouldn't," Carter agreed, because a Goa'uld wasn't going to be worrying about paying the bills. "But she knows _about_ it, and it's probably valuable to her...kidnapper."

"So...she's been kidnapped?" Jordan said, looking confused.

"We don't think Gardner's acting alone or of her own will," Jack said. "But the point is...are we going with Seth's place, where they found the amulet?"

"No, I don't think so," Daniel said. "Think about what we know about these...people. Things might have been taken and...and moved around."

_What we know about these people_. They'd killed Seth, and apparently, Osiris got stuffed in a box...ah, right--by Seth. Which meant Seth might have grabbed some of Osiris's loot after the box-stuffing incident, including the amulet. Wherever the jar had been found was probably Osiris's old hangout.

"Since the amulet depicts Osiris," Dr. Jordan added, looking interested, "I'd been suspecting that someone had shifted that and a few other artifacts from one place to another. It happens sometimes, via grave robbers or trade or other factors."

_Factors like a Goa'uld_ , Jack thought. "I see," Carter said slowly. "So Osiris's temple is probably where both artifacts originated. And from what we know, Dr. Gardner's probably heading for that temple."

"Murray?" Jack said, just to make sure they had agreement.

Teal'c thought, then said, "That is not unlikely."

"Then we should go to Osiris's temple," Daniel said. "I think." Carter shrugged.

"Okay," Jack said, really wishing everyone were more certain. "Carter, you and Dr. Jordan put your heads together and figure out where we're going and how to get there once we land. We've got just under ten hours before that, so everyone grab some sleep while you can."

"I don't suppose there's coffee anywhere," Daniel said, continuing to flip through the list of artifacts, as if hoping to find another clue somewhere.

"Did you hear me say 'sleep?'" Jack said, exasperated. "How are you so addicted to caffeine? We're not going through coffee at the house any faster than I used to by myself."

"Our..." Daniel faltered but pressed on valiantly. "The office is always stocked, and the commissary's just downstairs."

"He keeps an extra bag of coffee locked in his drawer at all times," Carter added, not looking up from her GPS. "It's inside a binder disguised as version 1.0 of his Egyptian dictionary."

"Sam picks my lock when she runs out," Daniel explained when Jack raised his eyebrows. "But it's fine, because I know where she keeps her cookies."

"Indeed, you do not," Teal'c said smugly.

Daniel looked up from the Steward expedition inventory and scowled at Carter. "You got him to hide your cookies for you?"

Still without looking up, Carter replied, "If you go away for three weeks, don't expect to know where my stash is when you come back."

Then she froze, as if just remembering what had happened at the end of those three weeks. Jack watched Daniel carefully, but he only cleared his throat and said, with barely a pause, "Well. Then I suppose I shouldn't expect that bag of coffee to be there when we get back, yeah?"

"Murray hid that, too," she said with a sigh.

"You are most welcome, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said.

"Thanks, Murray," Daniel said, smiling briefly.

Dr. Jordan leaned back in his seat, looking like the all-too-real surreality of their situation was starting to break through the façade of shock he'd been wearing. "You're insane," he informed them, beginning to look seriously concerned about sitting in a plane with them. "I have no idea what you're doing except that it's supposedly killed a few people and kidnapped another, and you're talking about coffee and cookies?"

If it weren't for the fact that Jordan's assistant had been found dead a few hours ago, Jack would have had a good response. As it was, he only said, "They're just...trying to keep it calm."

"But you're right, Doctor," Carter said. "Sorry. If it bothers you, we'll tone it down."

"All right," Jack decided. "Everyone not working on something specific, get some rest." Daniel peeked out from behind his packet of papers. "That's not 'specific.' You didn't sleep much last night. Go on."

"I'm not tired," Daniel said, turning irritable again without a distraction. "And how do you know how well I slept?"

Jack suppressed a spike of frustration, torn between the impulses to leave Daniel somewhere safe and quiet to recover--mentally and physically--or to yell at him to get his head in the game, since there was _no time_. "You really want to do this now?" he said instead, because of course he knew how all of his people slept when they were around him and what they were like when they were tired.

"No," Daniel said, more quietly. He pulled his feet onto his bench seat to curl up and lean against the wall, then stopped and set his feet back on the floor. "Okay. What about you?"

Jack checked his watch. "Our ETA's nine hours and forty-some minutes. Everyone relax--that includes you, Professor. There'll be a car ready for us when we arrive, and once we find the temple, Daniel and Dr. Jordan stay with the car until we've taken out the target."

"The...target's not Sarah, is it?" Dr. Jordan said. "Because I don't know what's going on, but I swear to you that she'd never--"

"Would she have opened the canopic jar to see what was inside?" Daniel spoke up. "If she was curious, maybe?"

Jordan stared at him, then said, "She was frustrated that we only had the artifacts to study for a few weeks, just like the rest of us, but I don't think she'd actually..." He trailed off. "You're saying there was something inside that someone...wanted?"

"It could have been an accident," Carter said calmly. "We consider Dr. Gardner to be a victim in this, and we're going to do what we can to bring her back safely and apprehend the guilty party."

XXXXX

**_19 December 2000; Cairo, Egypt; 0900 hrs (EET)_ **

Daniel had been aware, vaguely, that Sam could be a reckless driver. However, he'd never experienced her driving on sand in a place that had no roads, with time against them and one very anxious Egyptologist giving her directions. He gripped his seat tightly as she drove and pretended he was somewhere less nerve-wracking, like on a _teltak_ entering hyperspace.

The first thing Jack said about the temple when they saw it was that it looked like a hole in the ground, and that, okay, maybe Dr. Jordan had been right that it was a little hard to find. The second was that there were faint tracks from the other direction, as if someone had driven there before them, but no vehicle actually parked there.

"The tire tracks appear to return," Teal'c said, peering out as Sam stopped their jeep a short distance away, out of sight, "but the footsteps are in only one direction. Perhaps Dr. Gardner hired another to drive her here."

"Well, let's hope she's still inside," Jack said. "Daniel, you have your orders." He gestured Sam and Teal'c forward and nodded toward the temple.

Daniel pulled out his _zat'nik'tel_ and held it as Jack and Sam climbed out of the car and made their way into the temple, Jack and Sam both with pistols in one hand and a flashlight in their other. Teal'c followed just behind, standing guard with his zat at the entrance until the others were inside.

"What is that?" Dr. Jordan said, frowning at Teal'c before he disappeared inside the temple and craning around to see what Daniel held in his hand.

Moving his zat away and more out of sight, Daniel said, "We'll have to answer your questions later, Doctor."

To his relief, Dr. Jordan fell silent.

A single gunshot rang out from inside.

The radio sitting in the car seat crackled briefly, then stopped. Daniel reached for it and waited for one of them to say something, but it stayed silent. He clicked it twice, waited, then clicked it again... Nothing.

If SG-1 had already succeeded, then there was no harm in going in to help them clean up. If they'd failed, then they were all vulnerable now. Either way, he had to move in. Daniel left the radio where it was and climbed out of the jeep.

"Stay here," Daniel said. Dr. Jordan seemed to be frozen, so this didn't seem like it'd be a problem. "If anything happens--if anyone starts to come out of there besides one of us, even if it's Dr. Gardner, get out of here--do _not_ try to make contact with her. Drive back to the airport and contact"--he pulled out his cell phone and handed it over--"General Hammond. Or any number in that phone, actually--just call, say you were with Unit 1, and give our names. If _anything_ happens, get out of here."

Without waiting for a response, Daniel ran down the sandy slope and primed his _zat'nik'tel_.

He squinted into the temple, then crept down the stairs until he could see the interior. It was dark, but three flashlights were scattered on the floor, and by their light, Daniel could see Sam and Jack lying on the ground, tangled together in one corner. At the other end of the chamber, Teal'c was lying facedown, and bending over him was a woman, dressed in white with blond curls visible where they spilled out of her hood.

Sarah Gardener--and Osiris.

Standing so close, Osiris had to know Teal'c had a Goa'uld in him, no matter that he still wore a hat that covered his tattoo. Even as Daniel shifted his grip on his weapon, she pulled Teal'c onto his back, ripped his shirt up to expose his abdominal pouch and plunged her hand in.

Without another thought, Daniel stepped out, aimed his _zat'nik'tel_ , and fired--

Osiris whirled around, and a force shield shimmered into place around her. The zat energy dissipated uselessly.

She pulled her hand out of Teal'c's pouch and deliberately raised her other hand to show the active ribbon device she wore. "Daniel Jackson," she said, her voice distorted and her eyes glowing. "How very interesting."

Daniel took a step back. "Osiris," he said. He glanced once more at Teal'c and saw the symbiote had been pulled partially out of the pouch and was squealing, squirming desperately to find its way back in. Teal'c was making no move to help it; Daniel hoped that didn't mean he was too badly injured, or worse.

No. No ' _or worse_.' They were unconscious. They'd wake up soon.

She stood and walked deliberately toward him. At a loss, knowing the _zat'nik'tel_ 's energy would be useless, Daniel retracted it and gripped it tight in his fist as he aimed a punch at her. Surprise let him make contact and even turned her head, but the blow barely gave him a second before Osiris recovered to catch his arm with inhuman strength and toss the _zat'nik'tel_ away.

"You," Osiris said, grabbing him tightly by the throat, "are a mystery to me." Daniel's hands flew reflexively to her arm, pulling vainly at her grip as he was forced to his knees. "Barely more than a child, but you know much of the Goa'uld, more than my host knows--more than any other human I have encountered since my awakening."

Daniel tried to inhale and felt a tiny breath wheeze into his lungs. She must have knocked Sam and Jack out quickly, then, if she hadn't had time to figure out how much _they_ knew.

But of course she had. Only time for a single gunshot and all three down...if he'd given it a second thought, he would have been expecting a hand device and tried to strike with a knife instead of his zat.

"My host believes herself intelligent," Osiris continued, easily holding him in place. "A scholar. Yet she knows nothing of these things, nor of the _chaapa'ai_ , not even that it is possible to travel to other worlds. And _you_ , Daniel Jackson, travel with a Jaffa and human warriors, and you even claim to know the language of the gods."

Sucking in another breath, Daniel managed, " _Tau'ri...ne Goa'uld ya daru._ "

Surprise flitted across Osiris's face but was quickly overtaken by anger. "Insolence," she spat, then threw him to the floor. The shock of impact gave way to a desperate relief as air flowed back into his lungs. "Humans will _always_ bow to their gods."

Gasping, Daniel looked up at her as she towered over him, and a movement beyond her caught his eye. Jack was stirring.

"Not anymore!" Daniel rasped, frantically drawing her attention back to himself to give someone--anyone--time to wake up and act. "Look--look at your temple. Nothing is left of the Goa'uld on this planet but ruins and...and inaccurate stories in books!"

She narrowed her eyes. "So there is no Goa'uld who rules on this planet," she said thoughtfully. "Then there will be no...competition."

"No Goa'uld will ever rule us," he snapped back. "The Tau'ri are strong--we have killed Ra, Hathor, and...and Sokar. And Setesh--the one who defeated you _and_ your queen--"

"My queen," she said, latching immediately onto that. Eyes flashing again, Osiris raised her ribbon device, its central crystal glowing. "Yes. Where is Isis?"

_Hurry up, Jack_ , Daniel thought, and said, "I don't know."

"You lie," she said. The ribbon device began to glow, and Daniel shrank back in reflexive fear.

"I really....don't know," Daniel said, only realizing he'd been leaning away when his back hit the altar behind him. She started to turn and he added quickly, "Maybe she's dead! The same way so many of the Goa'uld are."

He glanced involuntarily away for an instant and saw Jack pulling himself to his feet, his knife in his hand.

"Impossible," Osiris said, moving the hand device closer, and Daniel gasped when he felt the familiar pain stab into his head, for just a second. She pulled her hand back again. Against his will, he sagged in relief. "Do you know what I can do with a _djera'kesh_ , Daniel Jackson? You _will_ tell me what I wish to know."

"No, I...I don’t think so," Daniel said, his head already pounding and his heart racing--he knew how it felt to be subjected to the full power of a ribbon device.

Her lips twisted. "Tell me--"

Jack's boot scraped on the floor.

Osiris turned at the sound, just in time to duck away when Jack threw his knife. Daniel covered his head as the knife bounced harmlessly off the altar near him, missing Osiris.

Infuriated, she raised the hand device and threw Jack against the wall, where he slumped again over Sam. Daniel pushed aside the ache in his head and crawled to the side, reaching for the knife, when a hand grabbed him by the shirt and jerked him around.

He only had time to see Osiris's face and the bright red light of the ribbon device before pain erupted in his head.

"Where," she hissed, each sound ripping into him like a nail, "is my queen?"

His eyes were squeezed tight against the excruciating pain, but the fingers of his right hand closed over something metal. Feeling himself weakening with every moment, he ignored the sharp bite of the blade on his skin and closed his fist over it, tightening his grip when he felt his hold slipping.

"Speak!" Osiris roared, and Daniel bit his lip to stop from screaming. "Tell me what you know of Isis and the _chaapa'ai_!"

With a final effort, he swung his hand up and felt the blade catch and tear through something. Warm liquid flowed over his skin, and the agony in his head diminished as he felt himself drop to the ground, the impact jarring him again.

"What--how dare you!"

Daniel forced his eyes open, squinting past the jagged spikes of pain to see Osiris, hunched over, a hand pressed to her side and blood flowing from between her fingers. She turned to face him, her expression pinched with pain and fury. "You will pay for this impudence," she said tightly, even as she stumbled toward the wall.

Daniel moved to get up, but even the tiniest movement, and the answering ache that lanced through his hand and his head, made him stop. _Get up,_ a voice yelled in his head. _Get up, get up!_

"No," Sam's voice gasped. "Colonel!" Daniel tried to stop his eyelids from drooping shut as the sound of footsteps reached him.

And then the ground shook. He dragged his eyes open to see rings spring from the floor and surround the wounded Goa'uld. He didn't realize he'd closed them again until he heard gunshots, and a _zat'nik'tel_ , and Jack cursing as Osiris hissed, "Make no mistake--Osiris will return. And the rivers of the earth will run red with blood!"

"Sarah?" someone said, and then some sound--something familiar, like a _teltak_ but different, too...

And then it was gone.

Daniel wrapped his arm--the one it didn't hurt to move--around his throbbing head.

"Dammit!" Jack yelled. Daniel heard himself groan as the sound rumbled into his head and curled tighter, squeezing his eyes shut. "Shit," Jack said. "Teal'c, are you--"

"I will...be fine," Teal'c said breathlessly.

"Dr. Jordan," Sam said. "You shouldn't be--"

"Oh my god," someone said, and Daniel thought he should know who it was, but all he could think was that the person wasn't on his team, and it hurt.

" _Doctor_ , go back to the car."

"Carter--"

"Yes, sir, on it."

Then Teal'c's voice was next to him. "Daniel Jackson," he said.

"Teal'c," Daniel mumbled, raising his head and trying to push himself up, but then pain flared from too many places for him to define, and he slipped back down.

"Daniel," Jack said. "Are you--ah, _geez_ , your hand..."

"I s-stabbed her," Daniel said.

"I know," Jack said, sounding more upset than he should. "Let go. Daniel, open your hand. Can you move your fingers?"

It took a moment's thought, but Daniel finally concentrated hard enough and felt his fingers uncurl. He bit his lip hard as Jack jerked something out of his hand. "It's not my blood--"

"No, most of it _is_ ," Jack said, and Daniel finally blinked his eyes clear to see him and Teal'c both looking the worse for wear but relatively alert. "You were grabbing the wrong end of the knife--didn't you feel it?"

Had he felt it? Daniel tried to think and gave up. "I...don't know."

"All right, it's okay. Can you get up? We've gotta get back to somewhere we can treat whatever needs treating."

"Think so," Daniel said. Jack had pulled off his jacket and now pressed it in a wad against Daniel's hand. " _Ah_ \--"

"Hold that there," Jack said, pulling Daniel's left hand around to cradle the right, and then Teal'c was helping him to his feet. "Whoa," Jack said, when he almost crumpled again, feeling lightheaded, _gods_ , his head hurt. "Steady--just need to get to the car."

"Osiris?" Daniel said. "Where's Sam?"

"You didn't see?" Jack said as the three of them made their staggering way out of the temple. "Osiris ringed onto her ship. Dr. Jordan must've seen something and came to take a look--he saw...way too much. Carter's sitting on him now."

"I told him to drive away if anything happened," Daniel mumbled, clamping down on a whimper as they emerged into bright sunlight. " _Naturu_...my head..."

"Close your eyes," Jack said and kept talking, quietly, calmly. Daniel closed his eyes and followed as Teal'c herded him in the right direction. "And it's a good thing you didn't specify 'ships' as a reason to run, or we'd be stranded here, huh? All right--you're gonna want to open your eyes for a second and hop in...no, Daniel, just step up here--there we go..."

"Sir," Sam said as Teal'c helped Daniel climb into the back of the jeep, "I need to go and collect our equipment."

"You okay?" Jack said.

"Yes, sir, I can work."

"Then go," Jack said. "Dr. Jordan, are you all right?"

There was a pause, and then, very calmly, "No. No, I don't think so."

"Well, I'm guessing we're not going to have any choice but to explain a whole lot of things to you, so just...hold off on the questions until you can talk to someone who's not bleeding or concussed. And don't talk to _anyone_ but us until you've been debriefed."

"You're...bleeding and concussed?" Daniel said, squinting at Teal'c.

" _You're_ bleeding, _we're_ concussed," Jack retorted, his face suddenly appearing above Daniel's, which made Daniel realize he was lying down as much as he could in the space available. It was hard to tell if Jack was swaying or if Daniel's vision was. "Your brain's always been scrambled, anyway. Teal'c, how's it looking?"

Cloth pulled sharply away from his hand. Daniel looked at it for the first time and saw a deep gash across his palm where he must have been holding the knife, blood covering his hand and still flowing, the bandage that had been around his palm torn apart. If he'd grabbed the wrong end and not truly registered it at the time, he supposed he should be thankful he'd managed to hit Osiris with the pointy part. As he watched, someone squeezed water onto it from what looked like an IV bag of saline. He thought it might hurt more if his head weren't occupying most of his attention at the moment.

"It is bleeding too heavily," Teal'c said, and then mashed a clean wad of gauze back onto the hand. Daniel sucked in a breath and squeezed his eyes shut again.

Eyes still shut, Daniel raised his left hand until he felt it touch Teal'c's stomach. "Is it okay?" he said. He could feel the symbiote moving slightly, though whether it would heal...

"It is healing already," Teal'c assured him. His glasses were pulled away, and a large, warm hand dropped to cover his eyes, blocking the sunlight much better than his eyelids did on their own. The engine rumbled, the vibrations jolting through his head.

"I don't really want it to die," Daniel whispered. "Not if it kills you, too."

"I know," Teal'c said, and gently took Daniel's hand away and replaced it on the floor of the jeep.

...x...

The next time Daniel woke, Teal'c's hand was gone from his eyes. It was louder, too--not the sounds of wind through sand, but the mechanical whirrs of en engine. The pain in his head had diminished to a steady but unrelenting pressure, and as long as he didn't move, he thought he would manage to keep it like that.

"How's he doing?" Sam's voice whispered. "Is it still bleeding?"

"Some," Teal'c answered. "He continually moves and pulls the wound."

"Sam," Daniel said without opening his eyes.

"Hey," she said, still talking softly. "I called Janet--she's concerned about the ribbon...you know...most of all right now. So she wants us back as soon as possible in case that needs looking after. Not the most comfortable, but we've got medical supplies--it should hold us. All right? If you think you'll need to see a doctor sometime in the next several hours, you _have_ to tell me right now before we're in the air, and I'll get you to a hospital. Don't be brave now."

"I just wanna go home," Daniel mumbled, relatively sure he would stay in one piece during the plane ride back.

"Okay," she said. "I'm gonna help the colonel on board, so Teal'c will help you climb out of there. Can you walk?"

Daniel chose not to answer in favor of keeping his head from bursting as he was half-dragged out of the jeep, but once he'd found his feet and his balance--mostly--he managed to make it to the plane by leaning on Teal'c.

"Where's Jack?" Daniel said once he'd made it halfway up the stairs, because Teal'c seemed steady to him, and Sam was apparently okay, but Jack had been knocked out twice.

"Right here, Daniel," Jack's voice said. Daniel squinted to see Jack settle into a seat at the end of one bench, leaning against a wall, with some help from Sam. "Dr. Jordan's okay, too."

"Lie down," Sam said, and Daniel obeyed readily, sprawling over the bench next to Jack and pulling his good arm back over his eyes. He hoped someone had put his glasses somewhere safe, because that had been his spare pair already and he had no idea where they'd gone.

"Is everyone gonna live?" Jack said. "Least until we get back to Colorado. Dying on a plane...the paperwork would..." He sighed, apparently too tired to finish the joke.

"Mm," Daniel managed. His right hand had something wrapped tightly around it now, too tightly to move at all, and the pain there had settled into a fiery throb too insistent to ignore. Someone tapped his chin and pressed what felt like a pill against his lips, and he opened his mouth to let Sam tip a mouthful of water in to wash down whatever it was.

"Major Carter and I will be fine," Teal'c said.

"Colorado?" Dr. Jordan's voice said. "Not Illinois?"

"You know that debriefing I mentioned before?" Jack said. "It just got more complicated."

It occurred to Daniel that they should just recruit him and get it over with. Robert had respected the man and said that Dr. Jordan had helped him write grant applications to work on theories about artifacts that were too old for Egypt, even if none of them had been funded. He'd seen too much for any story to really cover, and the SGC needed a real Egyptologist who knew what he was doing, not just someone like Daniel who knew things that he'd learned from family anecdotes and textbooks. And then, they could tell him what had happened to his students--that Robert had died to save a friend, that Sarah Gardner was an innocent victim, that Steven Rayner had been killed by a Goa'uld and not by her. They should hire him.

"What?" Jack said, making him realize he'd said the last part aloud.

"Robert wanted to," Daniel said. He swallowed hard, not opening his eyes as the plane began to move. "He would have tried to recruit him except he wouldn't have left his lab." _Too many pronouns_ , he thought. Robert would have told him he needed clearer antecedents and should really think before he opened his mouth and spoke. Something started to leak from his eyes, and he was glad he was covering them with his arm, because he was too tired to make himself stop. Keeping his breathing even was taking all of his energy.

"We're...gonna have to wait and see about that," Sam said. "That's up to a lot of people, and it's not fair to ask that of Dr. Jordan right now."

"I can't take his place," Daniel whispered.

"God, we need a break," Jack said. A hand patted Daniel's leg. "Almost home. Hang on."

...x...

A ringing phone woke him briefly again. He stayed where he was and heard Sam's voice say, "The Enkarans? What happened, sir?"

Daniel opened his gritty eyes to see Jack and Dr. Jordan both dozing while Sam was rubbing her eyes, clearly trying to wake up more fully. Teal'c might have been in _kelno'reem_ but had opened his eyes to watch her as she stood and moved a little farther away from the rest of them to talk.

"What?" she said into the phone, frowning. "What's the timeframe?" Daniel started to sit up, quickly regretted it, and stayed where he was. "And they can't reason with ... Well, yes, sir, theoretically, it's possible. If they create a feedback loop, the energy will build up in the reactor and eventually explode. But with all due respect, I don't think that's ... No, sir, but--"

She stopped, listening, then looked at her watch. "Two hours. Yes, sir ... The blast will be messy, and it'll have to be placed carefully to protect the people, but it should work... I know, sir. And I wish I had another choice to give you." She glanced back at the rest of them. "Our ETA is six hours. There's not enough time--you'll have to ask Sergeant Siler to set it up... Yes, sir."

Daniel waited until she had hung up and was walking back to her seat to ask, "What happened to the Enkarans?"

"We're not sure," she said, sitting back down. "They contacted base using their Sagan box. It's some sort of aerial attack."

"Who?"

"I don't know," she said, rubbing a hand over her face. "All we know is that someone is poisoning the air, but we can blow them up. God."

It was a tragedy, Daniel knew, or at least an abomination. He should feel anxious and furious about it, but right now, all he could feel was hollow, like there was no room for anything but guilt. "We brought the Enkarans there and said they were safe," Daniel said.

"I know. And hopefully, they will be." She stood once more and moved toward him, taking his uninjured hand. "How're you holding up? You probably don't feel too good, but Janet says not to give you anything stronger than Tylenol until she can examine you."

"Last time I felt like that I ended up dead in a sarcophagus," Daniel remembered, squinting past the sharp spikes of light to see her worried face. "But I think...if I were going to die this time, I'd have done it already." Sam's hand tightened around his for a second. "How's Jack?"

"We'll all be fine," she whispered. "Now close your eyes. Go back to sleep."

He sighed and closed his eyes again.

XXXXX

**_19 December 2000; Infirmary, SGC; 1700 hrs_ **

Daniel left the other three to be checked over by Janet while he was led into a side room, where Dr. Warner made him lie down. He fell asleep again, but by the time he woke up, over an hour had passed, his entire body had faded to a mass of muted aches, and his hand had been wrapped snugly in bandages.

Janet bought him back out to the main infirmary, explaining that there were stitches under the bandage holding together his hand and the things inside his hand. The others had apparently taken Dr. Jordan into a closed conference room to figure out what to do with the man, but Sam must have grabbed his glasses earlier, because she'd left them in the infirmary for him.

"Are you having any trouble breathing?" Janet said as she finished giving him a tetanus shot and pushing water at him.

Daniel frowned, fighting against the familiar feeling of pain medication making him fuzzy. "Breathing? Why?"

Her fingers touched his neck, tilting his head up gently. "Were you strangled at some point?"

Oh. That. "Maybe a little," he said.

"A...a little." She sighed and get go of his chin. "Let someone know right away if you _start_ having trouble breathing or if it starts hurting. At all."

At this point, Daniel didn't think his neck was what he'd worry about hurting. "What about...?" He held up his thankfully numb hand.

Janet pulled it back down. "I don't want you using it at all for a day or two. That means _no_ use until I say so, and then just a little at a time. If it doesn't heal properly--if the wound opens, if there's too much scarring--you could lose significant mobility. That's no little scratch." Daniel felt his eyebrows shoot up in alarm. She held up a finger. "We think you'll be okay, but that means following my directions exactly and no overdoing things if you want full strength back."

"Yes, ma'am," he said. He twitched the fingers of his hand--one of his fingers felt reluctant to move when he told it to, but he couldn't tell if that was because of the wrapping or whatever they'd sewn up. He stopped when it started to feel vaguely, disconnectedly uncomfortable.

"Now, Teal'c uses very strenuous physical therapy regimes," she went on. "I know you train with him, but your body isn't like his. You have to trust me over his advice in this." Daniel nodded. Teal'c hadn't even let him train before; they had both learned over the last three years that humans didn't heal like Jaffa. "How's the pain, in general?"

"Fine," Daniel said, because for the moment, it was.

"One to ten?"

"Two. Three."

"Three," Janet repeated, sounding skeptical.

He rubbed his eyes. "I don't know. I can't feel my hand." He wasn't sure he could _count_ to ten now, either. Besides, the last time he'd graphed something between one and ten, it had turned out to be on a logarithmic scale and Robert had sighed at him when he'd done it wrong, so how was he supposed to know where one step ended and the other began without some relative measures?

Janet tilted her head and made a notation on his chart. "Under the circumstances, that's probably a blessing. You'll want to come back here before you go to bed, though. And I want you to take your meds this time when it gets bad."

Daniel nodded and let her run her fingers over him for a final check. It took a while to notice that she was still holding his hand, even after she'd finished with it. "I'm okay," he told her.

"Are you?" she said. "It's been a...a hard few days."

"How many days has it been since SG-11 died?" he said. "Three--four? It feels like it's been just...one long..."

"I know," Janet said. "SG-1 has been so busy lately, and with this Osiris business so soon after P3X-888...it's hard. But--"

"It'll get better," Daniel said, looking at his hands in his lap. "I know. We see people die a lot. I should know what it's like by now."

"Doesn't make it easier," she said gently. "I'm a doctor. I see plenty of death, and that doesn't make it any easier to lose someone--a friend, a colleague, someone you respect."

Daniel took a deep breath, and then another. "At first," he said, "I thought..." He stopped. "I'm not really sure why I'm here anymore."

"Here...where?" she said carefully. "At the SGC?"

"I wanted to learn and...and study, and I was always insisting to Robert that I was, but..." He shook his head. "I don't do that, either, most of the time. Mythology, language, and guns--that's my field. Robert hated that."

"Robert Rothman was very proud of you," Janet said.

Daniel didn't say anything about the dream he'd had just a few days ago, wherein he'd seen his parents and they hadn't recognized him. His parents didn't haunt his dreams all the time anymore, but when they did, it was almost worse. "He wanted me to go to school or...or something. And I try to hunt and kill his old friends instead, because, as it turns out, that's what I know."

There was a long silence. Finally, Janet said, "You've done what you've had to, better than I ever thought you could when I first met you. Anyone would be proud of who you've become."

He wanted to tell Janet that he had met a mother two years ago--Oma Desala, Mother Nature herself--and she'd told him that his hatred would bring death. He wanted to tell her that he hated the Goa'uld even more now than before, and that he couldn't even bring himself to want to stop hating them, and what did that say about him?

"Did you hear anything about what happened to the Enkarans?" Daniel said instead.

"Yes," she said. "I'm a little short on details, but SG-4 was able to stop the attacking ship."

"The naquadah reactor worked?"

"Well...not exactly. The ship beamed the reactor away before it could go off, but Lieutenant Marchenko found a way to get himself beamed onto the ship. He detonated some explosives there, enough to destroy it from the inside. There's a lot of cleanup and rebuilding to do, but the Enkarans are safe."

Daniel had never even met Lieutenant Marchenko. Now, he supposed he never would. "I don't know what I'm supposed to feel about that," he said.

Janet rubbed his uninjured arm with a gentle hand. "There's nothing that you're _supposed_ to feel, Daniel," she told him. He wasn't sure she was talking about Marchenko and the Enkarans. "You feel what you feel."

At the moment, Daniel didn't think he wanted to feel anything at all.

...x...

Daniel found his way to the conference room near the surface where Jack and Teal'c were talking with the general. General Hammond saw him approach, looked him over, and nodded, so he walked in. Jack looked worried and Teal'c's eyes lingered on the bandaged hand, but since Jack had a concussion and Teal'c had had his symbiote pulled out, Daniel thought they didn't have any room to criticize.

"Mr. Jackson," General Hammond said, "are you all right?"

"How's the..." Jack waved his own hand.

"I'm okay," Daniel said, finding his way carefully to a seat with some help from the wall. "I'm off active, uh...field duty for a while longer, though."

"Y'think?" Jack said. Daniel supposed he'd probably agree once the anesthesia wore off.

"It's good to know you're okay," the general said. "Dr. Jordan's agreed to sign a non-disclosure agreement, so Major Carter is helping him finish that before we tell him anything else."

"Yes, sir," Daniel said, wondering what story could possibly explain all of this.

"First, I hate to put this on SG-1, but we need to know what happened on P5S-381 with the Enkarans," the general said. "Not only did we lose a member of SG-4, but we have to be sure something like that won't happen again, and that the wreckage left by the ship that attacked the Enkarans will not pose a danger to the inhabitants."

"That just happened a few hours ago, didn't it?" Daniel said. It was incredible to think how much had happened in the past few hours--few days.

"Yes, and SG-4 is still there. They'll stay and guard the Enkarans until SG-1 takes over from them tomorrow to run some analysis. Once we know more, I'll assign another team to finish it up, but you're the team most likely to figure out quickly what went wrong."

"Not you," Jack added to Daniel. "You're in no condition; you'll stay on base while the three of us go to P5S-381, and then the whole team'll be on stand-down after that. We don't have a mission for a couple of weeks."

"You were both hurt," Daniel said. "Sam, too."

"Teal'c's practically fine already," Jack said. "And Carter and I will be okay for a quick trip to take a look around. Even Dr. Fraiser said so."

Daniel doubted Janet had been happy about it, but for once he wasn't going to complain about being left behind or coddled. He wanted nothing more than to go to sleep right now, which was an uncomfortable mood for a meeting, but he was a little grateful that he couldn't think about much at once. "What about Dr. Jordan?"

"Given the exposure he's already had," the general said, "nothing in his experience would make for a sufficient story. There will be no mentions of the Stargate itself, but we can acknowledge that there is a method--containable within one of those canopic jars--of drastically changing someone's personality the way he saw with Dr. Gardner."

"Perhaps a chemical or a disease," Teal'c said.

"Do the Tau'ri know of a chemical or disease that can do that?" Daniel said doubtfully. "Maybe a...strange hallucinatory drug of some sort, like the story we gave for the _nish'ta_ programming..."

"Sounds like programming more than a disease to me, for something that exact," Jack said. "Not that we have the technology to do _that_ , either."

"We don't care what conclusions he draws," the general said bluntly. "All he needs to know to reconcile what he saw yesterday and today is that there _is_ science beyond what he believes to exist, and that he needs to stay quiet about it."

"General," Sam said. Daniel turned to see her at the entrance with a file. "Dr. Jordan's finished with the NDA."

The general nodded, taking the papers from her. "Give us ten minutes, Major, and then bring him over."

"Yes, sir."

As she walked away, Hammond said, "We need to figure out what it is we're trying to hide from him at this point. Obviously, the existence of the Stargate and the exact nature of the Goa'uld must remain a secret, but beyond that, I'm starting to think he's seen it all."

"There's nothing that screams 'aliens,' is there?" Jack said.

"Osiris?" Daniel said. "The ship?"

"A centuries-old mothership such as the one we saw is still far beyond the capabilities of any aircraft I have seen on this planet," Teal'c said.

"Did it enter hyperspace?" Daniel asked.

"And did he see Osiris ring up to the ship?" Jack added.

"I believe he may have seen that," Teal'c said.

"So we can say that it was..." Jack started. "Dammit. Do we know exactly how much he saw of her, as Osiris?"

"Enough," Daniel said. "I heard him say her name just after Osiris...said something. The thing about blood."

"Jordan was already standing at the temple entrance by the time I woke up again," Jack said.

"The same is true of me," Teal'c said.

"And I...didn't see much after Jack was knocked out," Daniel admitted. "He knows there's something significant about Goa'uld script, too, and is already starting to suspect that whatever we're doing has something to do with what Robert was studying, about the age of the pyramids."

"And he might've seen her eyes, definitely heard her voice..." Jack said.

General Hammond sighed. "This is a mess."

"Yes, sir," Jack said, sounding chastised.

Hearing his tone, Daniel said, "Sir, this isn't Jack's fault. I was the one who suggested we--"

"I made the call," Jack interrupted. "It was a mistake, General."

"It was not, O'Neill," Teal'c said. "Osiris may have been moments from leaving the temple when we arrived. Without Dr. Jordan's help, we would not have found the temple in time, and she might have been among the general population of this planet already."

"I don't care whose fault it is," General Hammond snapped. "Dr. Jordan knows there are things we can't divulge, and there are lives at stake. Each of you knows a number of stories that could cover some or most of what we need to say. Luckily for us, the truth sounds more unbelievable than any story we could spin. Step carefully, and we will be able to hold it together."

"Uh...there's more, sir," Daniel said. "The artifacts?"

Jack made a face, but Teal'c said, "Major Carter retrieved the Goa'uld amulet that Osiris used as a key to activate the devices in the temple."

"Well, we've got that in our possession now, too," the general said. "We'll make sure it stays in our archives and any of their data on it is erased."

Daniel looked down at the table but couldn't stay quiet. "It's not ours, sir."

"For cryin' out loud," Jack snapped, "you know what it is, Daniel! If someone got curious and took it to the temple, we'd have a Goa'uld control panel sticking out of the wall or worse."

"I know! But...there's a...an ethical..." He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "It doesn't belong to anyone in this country," he said more calmly. "I'm just saying that Dr. Jordan said it belonged to the Egyptian government, and I don't know what you told them about why we went there today, sir--or yesterday--but...I assume there's a diplomatic issue, too."

"He has a point, Colonel," the general said. "And rest assured, Mr. Jackson, I'll make sure it's--"

The door opened. Daniel turned to see Sam and Dr. Jordan in the entrance.

"--handled through the proper channels," the general finished. "Dr. Jordan, I'm Major General George Hammond. Please have a seat--I know you're confused and I hope you understand we won't be able to answer all of your questions, but we'll do what we can."

"All right," Dr. Jordan said cautiously. "I don't know where to start, except to ask...who exactly you are"--he gestured around at SG-1--"and how that relates to my work."

Daniel looked down toward his hands. No one else answered, either.

"I suppose that's part of what you can't tell me," Dr. Jordan said, sounding almost resigned. Daniel knew the feeling of knowing one wasn't in control anymore.

"Yes and no," General Hammond said. "These four make up one of several specialized units who are based here. I believe you've been introduced to them already."

"Specialized," Jordan repeated.

"For example," Jack said, "Major Carter is a physicist and a computer whiz. Mr. Murray is a foreign liaison and strategic expert, and Mr. Jackson is a foreign liaison and language analyst."

"And what are you, Colonel?"

"I have the surprisingly rare talent of making all three of them listen to me at the same time," Jack said. "Most of the time. Well, some of the time. Honestly, it's a crapshoot, but--"

"Jack," Daniel hissed.

"See?" Jack said, but despite the levity in his voice, he was sitting still and stiff; if he was joking, it was on purpose and to divert and distract Dr. Jordan from digging deeper into the question or into the team.

It worked, but only somewhat. "Speaking of language analysis..." Dr. Jordan started.

"We can't explain that writing, Doctor," Sam said. "But you've seen for yourself that it's connected to a lot of violent events. I know you're not going to want people disturbing your hard work, but we have to send someone to examine the other artifacts from the Steward expedition."

Fortunately, Dr. Jordan didn't argue.

Unfortunately, he said, "You mean like the Isis jar."

Daniel closed his eyes.

"The what?" Jack said.

_("Speak!" Osiris demanded. "Tell me what you know of Isis and the_ chaapa'ai _!")_

" _Ay_ ," Daniel breathed.

"Mr. Jackson?" the general said.

"Isis," Daniel said, turning to Dr. Jordan. "Meaning the sister-wife of Osiris?" He glanced at the general, knowing they would hear that and understand  ' _Goa'uld_.' "His queen?"

"Yes," Dr. Jordan said. "There was another canopic jar shipped over to us depicting her."

"Dammit," Jack muttered. "There's another one?"

"Are those same symbols written on that jar, Dr. Jordan?" Teal'c said.

Looking intent, perhaps because he'd now seen what had happened with the Osiris jar, Dr. Jordan shook his head. "I don't know. We've looked but haven't gotten to it yet--like I said, quite a few things were mislabeled from the start. There simply hasn't been the time to find it."

"General," Daniel said.

"I know," the general said. "Doctor, will anyone study that jar before you return to Chicago?"

"No; even if they'd found it, they'd wait for either me or...well," Dr. Jordan said, looking down. "Just me, now. Why--is it dangerous?"

"If no one opens it, it shouldn't be. Airman," the general called. The door opened. "Excuse us, Doctor; could you wait outside for just a minute? This won't take long."

Dr. Jordan sighed, but he stood and followed the SF out the door and into the hall.

"General," Daniel said once they were alone, "Osiris was very insistent on looking for her--his--its queen. She even mentioned Isis by name. The chances that this canopic jar contains a..." He glanced at the door, knowing it wasn't soundproof if an airman could hear from the other side. "...a snake are too high to ignore."

"Unit 1 has a joint project with Unit 4 to finish," General Hammond said. Daniel narrowed his eyes to think, then realized he was talking about the Enkarans. "That remains an extremely high priority until we can determine how dangerous that situation is."

Daniel glanced at Jack, then said, "I wasn't going to go to '381 anyway, right? I could--"

"You weren't going to go, Mr. Jackson," the general interrupted, "for the same reason you will be staying in Colorado. You're not to participate in any mission that requires you to get out of your chair until further notice from Dr. Fraiser."

"Which, given history, isn't going to do much good," Jack muttered, but without heat or blame. This last time, they'd gone to pay their respects to the dead and ended up concussed and bleeding in an Egyptian temple.

"Still," Sam said, "this Isis jar might not be dangerous now, but all it would take is for someone to drop it or crack it by accident. We have no idea how Osiris was released; it could be triggered by radiation of some kind for all we know. It was in a scanner at the time, after all. If not us, sir, someone else still needs to find the jar and bring it back before it happens again."

"Is Unit 3 available?" Daniel said.

Jack stopped knuckling his temple long enough to raise his eyebrows. "What, marines?"

"Major Wade speaks and reads some of the relevant language," the general said. Daniel nodded. "But they're away on a mission. What about Unit 5?"

Daniel squinted at the table as he thought of the people on SG-5. "Captain Jameson knows his mythology, and Captain Lithell does artifact analysis regularly," he said. "As for the language...well, I can give them a dictionary, but..."

"I'll send them tonight with a few others from your department," the general said, "and hopefully we'll have the jar here by tomorrow so we can deal with it."

"We've got a real problem here, General," Jack said. "First Hathor, then Britski's tablet, now this. We have no idea whether there are other things out there that archaeologists are stumbling on."

"We look for these things in journals and people hear from their former academic colleagues," Daniel said, "but often there's just no way to tell until something's been publicized."

"Which is a _problem_ ," Jack repeated.

"Well, sir, unless we start planting operatives everywhere like the rogue NID..." Sam said.

"I think we can find some middle ground," the general said. "Teal'c, please call Dr. Jordan in."

Daniel dropped his head into his uninjured hand, tired and wishing this day were over.

"Dr. Jordan," the general said once the man was back, "the NDA you signed means you cannot speak of this to anyone. Knowingly publishing or disclosing anything we tell you will result in criminal charges. If traces of this are found in your future work in any way, you _will_ be prosecuted. Do you understand?"

"I understood when I signed the agreement," Dr. Jordan said, folding his hands on the table.

"The purpose of this command is to combat an organization whose existence is not common knowledge to the general public," General Hammond said. "The danger is in how subtle their influence is--as you saw with Dr. Gardner, they have been known to abduct ordinary citizens and use them to carry out horrific deeds."

Dr. Jordan made a short exhale that might have been a laugh if anything about this had been funny. "How is that possible? What I saw wasn't--"

"That's not something we can tell you," Sam said. "But you were there in Egypt. Ask yourself whether the people who designed the things you saw just might be able to create a method of using innocent people for their own ends."

He looked around at each of the people at the table. "You're serious?"

"Count the bodies, Professor," Jack said bluntly. "How serious do you think we are?"

Daniel scowled at the table but didn't speak. This wasn't the time to argue about niceties.

"The part that makes me think this is a joke," Dr. Jordan said, "is that you're looking for clues about...about terrorists among ancient artifacts that have been submerged for decades."

"If you were tracking a person or a group of people, Doctor," the general said, "you wouldn't think to look somewhere like that for clues, would you?"

"It's why we were suspicious of you at first," Jack said. "We didn't know who'd had contact with the jar between the ocean floor and your lab. Anyone could have planted something."

"It was by starting to look in those unlikely places that we've begun to make headway," Sam said. "In fact, that's what the archaeologists and linguists here do--like Dr. Rothman and his people did."

"We aren't sure whether these...people are using actual relics of ancient cultures or are planting things in their midst," Daniel picked up, "but there are ways to tell what's genuine and what's been tampered with. That script, for example; unexplainable data on the age of an artifact; the presence of certain materials that have no cause to be on the artifacts..."

"...the end result of which," Jack took over smoothly, "is that we deal with supposedly ancient cultures _and_ very modern criminals with advanced methods, all at once. Don't underestimate how serious this is."

Dr. Jordan looked like he wanted to say something, but nothing came out when he opened his mouth to speak.

General Hammond cleared his throat. "That's why we're going to give you a list of things to look for if you find such anomalies in your research, and someone to contact if you do find anything. It'll help us, but it's for the protection of people you work with, too."

"What's going to happen to Sarah Gardner?" Dr. Jordan finally said. "Is she still alive?"

"Sarah Gardner is assumed dead," the general said.

"But she's not!"

"You need to understand: people in her position have contributed to massive tragedies. In our experience, it's nearly impossible to capture them alive, and we will try but cannot make any promises. _If_ we manage to capture her, there is a small chance that she can be cured."

"Then it's possible?" Dr. Jordan pressed. "Or are you just saying that?"

"We've seen people infected and cured," Daniel said. "It's possible. But Robert Rothman was also infected and couldn't be saved in time, and we would have done anything for a chance to--" He stopped.

"The chances are not good," Jack finished. "Listen, you're not a target or anything; they were only interested in that shipment of artifacts you got. But if you are ever contacted by Sarah Gardner, no matter what she says, you need to tell us immediately."

"So that's it?" Dr. Jordan said. "What now?"

"Now, I'll assemble a team who will escort you back to Illinois and make sure you get home safely," the general said. "They'll look around the museum for anything that could be dangerous and they'll try not to disturb more than they have to. In the meantime...Mr. Jackson?"

Daniel patted his pockets and realized he didn't have any paper on him, much less a pen. Sam reached across the table and tapped his hand, reminding him he'd have a hard time writing anyway, and held up a pen as if to say she'd write.

"All right," Daniel said, defaulting to the things they told researchers tapped for recruitment, "If you see the following in your work or in a colleague's, you need to contact us. Sam's writing down how to do that. You can contact Dr. Roth--you can contact me with questions as well, but keep in mind that I might not be able to answer, and that the communications must not violate the terms of the agreement you signed. You can call or write to indicate that you need to speak with one of us if your message cannot be conveyed in a simple and discreet manner, and we will arrange a secure meeting or exchange. Things to report include: symbols like the ones you saw on the Osiris jar..."

He let his mouth continue talking, familiar enough with characteristic marks of Goa'uld artifacts that he didn't need his brain fully awake to list them. He didn't realize he was done until Sam nodded firmly, clicked her pen shut, and pushed a sheet of notebook paper toward Dr. Jordan.

"Thank you for your time, Doctor," General Hammond said. He stood up. "I'm very sorry about your losses. Major Pendleton is waiting outside with his team and will escort you home."

...x...

Dr. Jordan left and returned to Chicago, escorted by SG-5 and accompanied by Nyan--who would see an airplane for the first time--and one of the other translators who spoke Goa'uld, in order to cover ground more quickly as they searched the museum archives for the Isis jar and any other Goa'uld artifacts. By then, Daniel found that he was ready to fall asleep right where he was sitting.

"Infirmary or your room?" Jack said.

It took a moment to realize the question was aimed at Daniel. "Are those my only choices?"

"You got ribboned pretty bad," Jack said. "Remember the last time that happened to you?"

"Pretty sure I'm not going to die this time," Daniel said. Sam ducked her head slightly as he said it. Daniel thought she was laughing at first, but then, he blinked his eyes clearer and saw she was a little more upset than that. A lot of people had been dying lately. "Sorry," he sighed.

"Did you mean what you said on the plane?" Sam said.

Daniel blinked at her. "What?" Jack said, speaking for them both.

"You suggested that Dr. Jordan should be hired into your department," Teal'c said.

Oh. "Did I say that aloud?" Daniel said, remembering that in a hazy way.

"Yeah," Sam said. "There's the issue of public scrutiny if someone as high-profile as he is in the academic community is suddenly hired into a classified project after the other members of his lab died unexpectedly--in fact, their deaths have probably sparked a few conspiracy theories and all sorts of rumors on campus already."

The general was watching him, as if for a reaction. "If you're asking about hiring people," Daniel said, feeling silly and severely out of his depth, "I don't have the authority to do that. Where--what time is it? You should ask Dr. Reeve if--"

"Dr. Reeve has been the head of your department for all of three days," the general said. "He's already pointed out the necessity of more personnel, given the way we've been expanding as well as Dr. Rothman's recent loss. You've said that yourself, in fact."

"Well, he was an academic in this world for longer than I've been alive," Daniel said, sounding oddly defensive even to himself, though of what he didn't know, "so my advice is to take _his_ advice about new research personnel over whatever I said when I was semi-conscious. Sir."

Then again, now that a large chunk of Dr. Jordan's lab was dead or Goa'ulded, and another two funerals were on the horizon for him, and everyone including the university must know that military investigators were and would be searching through his research even if they would be instructed not to ask. Daniel didn't envy what the man was going to face once he went back to work. How could they expect someone to go back after getting a glimpse of this?

"But you had a reason for mentioning it before?" the general said.

"Excuse me," Jack interrupted, "Daniel's on medical leave, and we did just put some other guy in charge."

Daniel rubbed his eyes. "Well. I guess it's only fair to help as much as possible for now, since everyone's gotten so much dumped onto their plates. I just..."

"It's time to lay off, sir," Jack said sharply, still looking at the general.

"Jack!" Daniel said, shocked.

"No, it's all right," General Hammond said, holding up a hand. "You're right, Colonel. I'll speak with the people in charge, and we'll ask you if we need anything, Mr. Jackson."

"Actually, sir," Daniel amended, "maybe...if he passes background check and everything, whether or not he's physically here, if we take Dr. Jordan on as a consultant from the outside, it would help in terms of...academic connections and things like that. He'd be another set of eyes watching the journals for Goa'uld activity. And then we'd have him to consult for advice and be able to tell him the truth about the Goa'uld, and about Robert and Dr. Rayner and Gardner..."

"I'll take that into consideration, Mr. Jackson," the general said gravely. "We'll look into it and, if everything checks out, we'll approach him again. Now, Colonel O'Neill, I believe you're to stay on base tonight; in fact, I'm told all of you got battered by Osiris. Get some rest. Tomorrow, we'll deal with the Enkarans and whatever's left of this."


	15. Aftermaths

**_20 December 2000; Infirmary, SGC; 1300 hrs_ **

Daniel walked into the infirmary the next day but stopped when he saw Janet finishing what looked like a post-mission exam on SG-12. Major Ferretti saw him in the doorway and hopped off his gurney as soon as he was done.

"Hey, Daniel," Ferretti said. "You need the doctor?"

"Yes, but I can wait until everyone's done," Daniel said.

"No, no, we're all fine," Ferretti said, concerned. "You look like hell. What's going on?"

Bemused, Daniel said, "Uh...thanks. But I'm not here for myself--I just need to ask Janet to look at a Goa'uld symbiote that we think we have in the lab."

"You _think_ you have," Ferretti repeated.

"It's in a jar," Daniel explained. "We think." Ferretti's eyebrows rose, but he didn't ask any more. "So...your team's not hurt or anything?"

"Regular checkup from a regular old boring mission," he answered. "Hey, look, uh...I've been meaning to say. I know you and Dr. Rothman were close, and I wanted to say I'm sorry."

"We lost a lot of people on that planet," Daniel said wearily. "I'm sorry, too."

Ferretti nodded, looking uncomfortable. "Yeah," he said.

Daniel cleared his throat awkwardly and wished Janet would finish faster.

"Okay, new topic," Ferretti said. Daniel smiled reluctantly. "You said you've always wanted to go to Egypt, right?"

"Um..." Daniel said. "Yes. And one day maybe I'll to do it without leaving blood on the floor of a temple." He was still getting used to not using his right hand--the pain was more than enough to stop him when he forgot--but using his left hand for everything still felt clumsy enough to make it impossible to forget something had just happened.

"Ri-ight," Ferretti said, scratching his head. "As long as you guys are all okay. You are, right?"

"The others are off-world. They wouldn't be if they weren't okay."

"If it were up to me," Janet said, walking up to them, "they wouldn't be off-world, either. There's a reason we don't like to assign so many missions a week, even when everyone's _not_ injured. Major, everyone on your team is fine. What's going on here?"

Ferretti waved as he collected his men and left. Daniel nodded back, then turned to Janet and said, "We have a canopic jar suspected to have a Goa'uld symbiote in it. They're working on getting an MRI image now, but the general would like you to examine whatever's inside. It's in a closed lab, because the seal looks like it was damaged, but not enough to allow something as big as a symbiote to escape...so we're not sure what to expect inside it."

She nodded briskly. "All right, then. Let's get started."

...x...

SG-5 and General Hammond were in the lab when they entered. "Well, here it is," Major Pendleton said, pointing at the screen. To Daniel, it looked like an outline of the canopic jar, and, inside it was--"That's a Goa'uld if I've ever seen one. Sorry it took us so long--we had trouble figuring out the right relaxation times for proper contrast, but I can tell you right now that whatever medium it's suspended in is _not_ water. We recommend no direct skin contact with it until it's identified."

"Embalming fluid?" Janet asked.

Lieutenant Barber shrugged. "Maybe, but it'll be a lot easier to tell once we get a sample of the liquid. What would that be, like formalin?"

"No, no, Osiris was alive in his jar," Daniel said. "Maybe it's some medium that can keep a symbiote alive outside of a host or a Jaffa. Janet, I know you've been trying to perfect a water-based formula for that but haven't--"

A thought struck him. He'd seen a formula that could do that--he'd swum in it, even, and drunk and breathed it.

"Daniel?" Captain Lithell prompted after a moment.

"I need to go back to P3X-888," Daniel said.

There was a brief pause, and then, "Okay...random," Barber said.

"I know you want to finish Dr. Rothman's project, son," the general said, "but--"

"No, the formula," Daniel said. "I mean--there were Goa'uld living in...in rivers there. And it was potable, and seemed just like water, but clearly not just plain water. If we knew what it was that was keeping them alive and could compare it to--"

"We'll discuss it later, Mr. Jackson," the general said firmly, the same way the Jack said it, meaning _'no_.' "For now, we have to deal with Isis, and all we know is that there's a liquid in there, which may or may not be similar to what sustained the Goa'uld on P3X-888. And we have to assume the symbiote might still be alive or might wake up once the jar is opened. Captain Lithell, do you know anything about the jar itself?"

"It looks like it's just plain ceramic, sir," Lithell said, "the kind of thing you'd expect to find in ancient pottery from that region of the world. From the outside, there's nothing extraordinary."

"Except the Goa'uld writing," Captain Jameson added.

"It doesn't say much more than the Osiris jar did," Daniel said, looking at the jar. "Setesh banished Isis and Osiris to oblivion."

"The part about Isis isn't in the myth I know," Jameson said, "but supposedly, Isis went to great and magical lengths to try to save Osiris after Seth banished him, so it's not inconceivable that Seth eventually..." He gestured toward the jar. "...got fed up and put her in one of these, too."

"Well," Janet said, studying the scanned image, "at least it's still in the jar and wasn't let out accidentally at some point. Before I try to take it out...if it's alive, should we keep it that way?"

"Excuse me?" Pendleton said. "Keep it _alive_?"

"I'm not sure we've ever developed a proper protocol for how to deal with sentient Goa'uld prisoners," she said stiffly. Daniel had studied Earth's international laws of war, however, because he'd wanted to understand where he stood with regard to them, and the Goa'uld had not signed the Geneva Conventions or other Tau'ri treaties. There was wide disagreement on how international humanitarian law should, could, or had to be applied to alien races and nations. Where the Goa'uld were concerned, Daniel was not inclined to err on the side of mercy.

The general sighed. "What do you suggest we do with it? We can't get information from a symbiote without a host, and I'm not sure experimentation on it would be any more ethical than killing it."

"Whatever information Isis has probably predates the Goa'uld-Tok'ra split," Daniel said, "so much of that could be learned from our allies. And if we're not killing her, the only way to keep her alive is to implant someone."

There hadn't been an order anywhere in there, though. Janet still looked indecisive, until Lieutenant Barber pointed out, "The seal's been damaged. It might be dead already."

"Take it out, Doctor," the general ordered. "And be careful."

"Yes, sir," she said. She moved behind the glove box and added, "A Goa'uld symbiote on its own isn't strong enough to break through this box. If it tries to get through the gloves, I'll withdraw, but I don't think its teeth could get through, even if it were at full strength and health."

"Which it's probably not if it's been in that jar for...how long?" Lithell said.

Sensing their eyes on him, Daniel shrugged but said, "Osiris was shocked that there was no Goa'uld ruling Earth, so I guess thousands of years."

"That's messed up," Barber said. "No way should something be alive in a jar after that long."

A loud, squelching noise stopped their discussion. "Ugh," Pendleton muttered as Daniel leaned closer to see Janet lay a glistening, wet symbiote at the bottom of the glove box.

"It's dead," Janet said a moment later. "We can stop worrying."

"Wow--she's a queen," Daniel said. "A biological female, I mean."

"Well, Isis was a goddess of motherhood and fertility," Jameson said as Janet lay the symbiote flat on the surface and picked up a scalpel. "How can you tell?"

"The pectoral arch is prominent enough to show even through the tissue layers, which is unusual in gender-neutral modern Goa'uld," Daniel said. He backed away to sit down abruptly when he remembered kneeling in the soil and saying this to Robert. "And, uh, and the dorsal curvature...uh..."

"That's right," Janet said, glancing briefly at him when he trailed off. "It's characteristic of the queen of the species. And, skeletal structure aside, I'm seeing the right reproductive organs in here."

Pendleton leaned over for a quick look. "If you can see its organs, it's not dried up or...or even decomposing. It's really intact."

Janet nodded, not looking away as she peeled back tissue layers. "It could have died yesterday."

"So it wasn't embalmed; it was actually kept _alive_ and only died when...I guess when the seal was broken," Captain Lithell said.

"Well, the important thing is that it's dead and, as far as we know, there are no other Goa'uld or Goa'uld artifacts in that museum's collection," the general said.

"I'd like to know what chemical or technology was involved in keeping it alive and docile, sir," Janet said, finally looking up and pulling one hand out of the glove box.

The general nodded. "I'm interested in knowing that, too," he said. "Analyze the liquid in there and anything else you can about that jar, but continue to be careful until we know what it is."

"The Tok'ra know stasis technology," Daniel offered, starting to push himself to his feet. "I can go ask Martouf if he's familiar with anything like this."

"Sit down, Daniel," Janet said before he could stand. "Lieutenant, please go ask Martouf to come down here."

...x...

"This is a two-layered construct," Lantash said once they'd pulled the jar back out of the glove box and onto the bench. "It is disguised to look from the exterior as though it were a normal, human-made jar, but the interior is a Goa'uld containment vessel."

"What's that?" Janet said, pointing inside the jar.

In answer, Lantash held it up to the light. "It seems to be a naquadah power source. This vessel was undoubtedly meant to act as a stasis chamber, probably to hold Isis prisoner eternally. It malfunctioned when the seal was broken."

"Why not just kill it?" the general asked.

"For the same reason that Sokar did not kill Apophis when he had the opportunity," Lantash said.

"To shame them?" Janet said. "Pride?"

"That's probably part of it," Daniel said. "But we think it's also for the sake of the godly façade. Many Jaffa don't think it's _possible_ to kill a god, but if they see System Lords killing each other, they'd start to wonder what makes the Goa'uld gods when they can die. So we've generally seen System Lords get imprisoned instead--in 'magical' canopic jars and sarcophagi, things like that."

"It is for that reason that the rise of the Tau'ri has been so disturbing to the Goa'uld," Martouf added, not looking away from his work. "Before the death of Ra, System Lords were occasionally defeated, but their deaths have rarely ever been recorded, or, at least, confirmed. The Jaffa rebellion might otherwise have started sooner."

"Still, it's kind of a bad habit, isn't it?" Barber said from where he was watching one of the scientists run chemical tests on the liquid from inside the canopic jar. "Sticking live enemies in boxes or holding them prisoner for eternity, I mean. That's a bad idea just _waiting_ to backfire."

"Apophis did end up taking over Sokar's army," Daniel agreed. "And Setesh is dead while Osiris has...'awakened,' and 'will return to make the rivers of Earth run red with blood.'"

There was another short silence. "When did you get so morbid, Daniel?" Barber said, looking like he wasn't sure whether to be amused or disturbed. "You used to be all chipper and...caffeinated when I met you."

Suppressing the odd reflex to make a morbid joke about the word 'morbid' and dead people--which seemed initially very funny, given recent events, and then very horrible for the same reasons--Daniel defended, " _She_ said it, not me. Or he. Do we call Osiris a 'he' or a 'she?'"

"Osiris has always taken a male host," Martouf said after he'd put the canopic jar back down. "That he has taken a female one this time means only that he was desperate. He may not remain in her if a suitable male host becomes available, but if he does, he cannot help but be influenced by the host's qualities."

Reminded that they were talking about an innocent host who'd slipped through their fingers only yesterday (literally, in his case, her blood running through his fingers), Daniel laid his head down on the bench to watch quietly as Martouf explained the stasis device to Barber and someone else walked around with a vial full of liquid for testing.

"So," Janet said quietly, watching alongside him. "What's this about P3X-888?"

Daniel shook his head. "Everyone just thinks I'm insane again."

"Of course we don't, Daniel," she chided. "But I'm sure you can understand our reservations about sending anyone back there."

"Look," he sighed. "I know what you think. This isn't some...issue about Robert or anything like that, all right? There are rivers _full_ of symbiotes. There are caves full of people with an intimate understanding of--and hatred for--those symbiotes, which has developed over thousands of years of slavery, predation, and coexistence--"

"People?"

"What?"

Janet turned to look down at his face. "You said 'caves full of _people_.' Those were Unas."

Daniel sat up, looking self-consciously around at the many people in the lab who hovered close enough to hear and were studiously not listening. "We call the Tok'ra 'people.' We call the Jaffa and the Asgard 'people.' It just means they're intelligent beings we deal with and respect, not exclusively humans."

"Okay," she said, setting her hands on her hips. "What about the fact that these Unas were ready to kill and eat you, from what I hear?"

"Yes, well," Daniel said. "They've had a change in leadership."

"You have good reasons to want to go?" she said. "Solid scientific initiatives?"

An odd shiver tried to work its way up his spine. He'd never initiated any scientific initiative, really, not completely on his own. "Yes," he said, sounding a little less sure than he felt.

"Can you write it out in a proposal?" Janet continued. "Lay out the reasons for Colonel O'Neill and General Hammond?"

He nodded, scowling at his bandaged hand again. "Yes." It might take him a while, with his fingers on medical leave, but he'd get the return mission approved; he'd just have to make sure he did it through the proper routes and prove this was logical, not emotional and irrational.

"That's how you need to go about it," she said, and he realized she wasn't encouraging or discouraging, exactly, but telling him that he didn't have Robert as his safety net now. He couldn't blurt an idea to his officemate and hope it was enough to get approval.

"I understand," he said.

"Daniel, can we step outside for a minute?" Janet said, a hand on his arm. "Let's leave the chemists to their work. I think that liquid's some kind of sedative; they're going to have a field day trying to synthesize it."

Wary of what she wanted but not willing to make a scene, Daniel stood and followed her, not just into the hallway, but into a quiet corner of the infirmary.

"I'd like you to make an appointment to speak with Dr. Mackenzie," she said.

"No," Daniel said immediately, and then, "About what?"

Janet spread her arms. "About any of the things you've been through in the last week, Daniel, or whatever you might be feeling now. I think it would help to talk about it."

"I'd rather not. Please don't make me."

She folded her arms over her chest and stood looking up at him, in that way that always made him feel like she was the taller of them.

Daniel felt himself trying to lower his gaze and stopped deliberately. "What is it that you think is going to happen if I _don't_ talk to one of the psychiatrists?" he asked. "Sometimes you Tau'ri say 'psychiatrist' like they're a...a cure for everything."

"It's not about anything _happening_ ," she said. "It's--"

"It's just for my own good," he said. "To work through things. To get an unbiased opinion. Is that what you're about to say?"

Janet sighed. "Yes," she said. "That is more or less what I was about to say. And would it really be such a bad idea?"

"I'd just...really rather not," Daniel said again. "Janet..."

"Hey, guys," Jack's voice called from the end of the hall. They turned to see the other three members of SG-1 walking toward them. "We're back. What's up?"

"Not much, Colonel," Janet called. "The situation with the Isis canopic jar is contained--Daniel and I have been comparing notes about Goa'uld symbiotes, particularly the queens, since he's familiar with their skeletal structure but not as much with their other physiological adaptations. In fact, we've isolated--"

"Ah!" Jack said, holding up a hand. "Doc--I've already got a headache."

"Yes, sir," Janet said.

"Thank you," Daniel said quietly.

"Talk to someone," she answered under her breath, just before the other three came within hearing distance. "Colonel, anything I need to know before I start in with the needles?"

"Um..." Jack said. "I don't like needles, if that counts."

"SG-4 was right," Sam said as SG-1 stepped into the infirmary. "There's still a huge, measurable increase in sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere, but it doesn't seem to be at toxic levels, at least not where the main villages are. There are traces of other chemicals, too, and while they've mostly dissipated by now, it looks like the Enkarans would've been killed where they stood if the ship had reached their village."

"Sulfur dioxide?" Janet said, frowning as she picked out SG-1's medical records and gestured for Jack to take off his jacket. "As a byproduct of something, some combustion process?"

"Well, there's a lot of naturally-occurring sulfur in the soil," Sam said, "and the ship burned through everything in its path. Colonel Ivanov thought it was some sort of chemical warfare. Their report said they found a substance that reacted with sulfur and released the oxide. In fact, they found some microbes in the soil--"

"Biological _and_ chemical warfare?" Janet said, looking alarmed.

Jack shrugged. "They didn't have time to identify anything--one village and part of another had already been destroyed by the time they'd been called to help, and the Stargate was close to going, too. But after the ship went down, SG-4 managed to decontaminate what was there, so there's no danger from the microbes anymore."

"Huh," Janet answered. "You know, sulfur dioxide is an odd choice of chemical weapon."

"But would it be sufficient as a weapon?" Teal'c said.

Janet raised her eyebrows, then shrugged. "At very high levels, sure, almost any gas could be sufficient, and SO-2 can be toxic. If nothing else, it could have consequences on their environment and on those already ill, possibly more than they could survive in the long term."

"I guess it would be efficient, too," Sam said. "Instead of having to synthesize or isolate a large amount of some chemical and release it, they just burn the land and let oxidation finish the job for them."

"I hope someone's working on trying to clean things up and monitoring environmental conditions," Janet said.

"SG-7's been assigned," Jack said.

"But why did this happen?" Daniel said. "Who even _knew_ there were people on that planet, and who'd want to kill the Enkarans?"

"If we could've seen the ship before Lieutenant Marchenko managed to destroy it..." Sam said, then shook her head. "Anyway, the images we got from the MALP don't correspond to anything I've ever seen."

"Nor do I recognize such a ship," Teal'c said.

Jack scowled at the needle in his arm. "Well, this might be one time when we'll never know. The Enkarans are safe for now. That's what's important."

"But just in case," Sam added, "we're continuing the search for another planet that could support Enkaran life, and if SG-7 reports that conditions seem to be worsening, we can evacuate them in time. And it might be less hectic this time around--we'll be able to help them start building first before they have to move in."

"Glad to hear that, Major," Janet said. "Your arm, please?"

When they'd finished and were pulling their jackets back on, Daniel took a breath and said, "The general says we have no missions for the rest of this week and couple of days off after that."

"Thank god," Jack muttered, sounding genuinely relieved.

"I was going to go to Abydos for a few days," Daniel said to the floor. "Already asked the general. So I can check the...the mines, and...make sure things are still safe. Check in with Skaara and Sha'uri. You know."

"Sure," Jack said easily. "Sounds like a good idea."

"Do you guys want to come?" He glanced up. "I mean, I know it's near the holidays, so maybe you--well, Sam might have plans. But I thought I'd ask, since the wormhole will be open anyway, and with the DHD, we won't even be using the SGC budget to dial."

"I don't have plans," Sam said. "You think they'd mind a few extra guests?"

"Hey," Jack said. "How come _I_ might not have plans?"

Daniel mustered up something he thought might resemble a smile. "Do you?"

Jack made a face. "No," he said.

"And there's no mining team there now," Daniel said, "so the SGC house is open, and if it's not for some reason, we can take shelter in Ra's pyramid. It's not like there's a lack of space, and--"

"I'm in," Jack said.

"Me, too," Sam said.

"And I," Teal'c added.

"But, just to warn you," Jack added, "there _will_ be trading of embarrassing stories about you with your family."

Somehow, that didn't seem as bad as it sounded like it should. "That's okay," Daniel said. "Okay."

XXXXX

**_23 December 2000; Stargate Room, Abydos; 0900 hrs_ **

"Dan'yel!" someone called when they stepped through.

To Jack's mild surprise, behind that were calls of "O'Neill!" and "Major Carter!" and "Teal'c!"

The guns were lowered, too. "Skaara," Jack said, smiling when he recognized Daniel's favorite big brother at the front of the pack. "How's it going?"

"We are well, O'Neill," Skaara said. "Is there trouble?"

"No, no," Jack assured him. "We just wanted to stop by to visit for a few days, see how you folks are doing--hope that's all right?"

"Yes, of course!" Skaara said, grinning back. "I began to wonder when Dan'yel and the Tau'ri would return."

Skaara turned to where Daniel was standing and stuck out his hand. Daniel started to reach for it, then pulled his injured hand back and put down his pack to try an awkward handshake with his left hand. Skaara frowned, looking his brother over, and was a little gentler than usual when he pulled Daniel in for a hug. As they held a short, whispered conversation in Abydonian, Jack shrugged at Teal'c and Carter and motioned to them to step away from the Stargate.

In the few minutes they'd been there, Carter had already managed to find her way to the iris control mechanism and was now checking it over fussily. " _Sha she'a taiyu_ ," someone said, pointing out into the desert. Jack turned to the young man who'd spoken, but he only repeated, " _Sha she'a taiyu_."

"A storm's coming," Daniel translated, turning away from Skaara to squint outside. "We might make it to Nagada before it hits, but we should probably wait it out. We'll be safe in here."

"All right," Jack said, sending a smile around the chamber at the six boys standing guard. "Let's settle in."

"O'Neill," Skaara said, "we have something to show to your team."

Jack raised his eyebrows and looked over Skaara's head to see Daniel giving him a small smile and lighting a torch from one of the lamps around the Stargate room. "Really? Us?"

"This way," Skaara said, and pointed down the staircase in the back that Jack didn't think he'd ever used before.

"Teal'c's seen it, briefly," Daniel said as the five of them made their way down the steps, "but Sam, I've been wanting to show you this door. Oh, one of you should bring your gun."

"Daniel," Jack said, "why do we need our guns?"

"You just need the laser sight," Daniel amended. "Something about the light triggers the door to open. Skaara and I spent days playing with the...the torches and the flashlights before we realized it had to be a red light. Here, come on, I'll show you."

"Huh," Carter sad, sounding interested now and moving to the front of their procession to trot after a suddenly-excited Daniel. "Did you try using a lens to focus..."

As the two of them took off down the winding catacombs and their voices faded into the distance, Skaara turned around and stopped, forcing Jack and Teal'c to stop, as well. "What has happened?" he asked quietly.

Jack glanced at Teal'c, then looked past Skaara to make sure the other two were out of earshot. "Now, why would you think something--"

A finger jabbed at the air dangerously close to his eyes. "Do not make jokes," Skaara warned him. "I have seen what there is through the _chaapa'ai._ I know what my brother risks as long as he is with your people."

It wasn't quite an accusation. "And believe me, _we_ know it, too," Jack said tightly. "Look. A lot has happened. I don't know how much you know about..." Then again, of all the Abydons, Skaara and his sister were the only ones who might understand. "You know what the Unas are?"

"Unas," Skaara echoed, furrowing his brow in thought the way Carter did on the rare occasion when she tried to remember something about Jolinar. "Unas... Klorel knew that word, but..."

"They were the first hosts of the Goa'uld," Teal'c filled in. "Daniel Jackson and his teacher were studying the planet where all Goa'uld originated, and he was captured by an Unas. His teacher was killed."

"Dr. Rothman?" Skaara said.

"So you've heard of him," Jack said.

"I spoke with him a year ago when he came here to explore," Skaara said. He glanced over his shoulder. "I see. And Dan'yel--he is hurt?"

"Not...badly," Jack said. "He'll heal. He just needs a break. You understand." While Skaara seemed to be digesting that, Jack said, "Okay? They're going to start wondering what we're talking about back here if we don't catch up."

"O-K," Skaara said, nodding once and turning abruptly around. "Come--it is here. Dan'yel said that he promised one day to show you the hidden chamber of Ra."

"Ah, that's what this is," Jack said, relaxing now that he knew what they were doing in the basement of a Goa'uld pyramid. "Yeah, he tried to talk my ear off about the place for weeks before he figured out that I had no idea what he was talking about."

Skaara laughed softly. "He has done that all his whole life."

"Now that we are on Daniel Jackson's homeworld," Teal'c said, giving Jack a look, "I believe he will be doing so even more."

Jack let out a mock-sigh. "What've I gotten myself into?"

...x...

As expected, the SGC house in Nagada village was empty when the four of them settled in for the night. Daniel hovered over them, looking unsure about what the protocol was--having a solid roof over their heads and bedding under them was already more than they usually had off-world.

"I'll be right back," Daniel said after they said they could manage to find what they needed. "If you need them, there are supplies--"

"We're good--you don't have to play host," Jack assured him, and he ducked back out.

It was only a minute later when Carter said, "Where do you think he's going?"

"He took his pack with him," Jack observed.

"Perhaps he wishes to be alone," Teal'c said.

"Perhaps _I'd_ rather not sit here wondering--"

To Jack's alarm, a pounding noise came from the ceiling. While he looked up, Daniel's face appeared upside-down in front of the doorway to their temporary lodgings, sweeping the curtain aside with a bandaged hand. "I can hear you, you know," Daniel said.

"What the hell are you doing?" Jack said, stepping out to see just where Daniel was dangling from, only to find him in the house above, halfway off the catwalk and holding on with a single hand and his legs. "You're gonna fall!"

Daniel rolled his eyes, though his face was starting to turn red from being upside-down. "I used to live up here, Jack. I did this all the time."

"And you've never fallen on your head?"

"Uh," Daniel hedged. "Not on my _head_."

Jack scowled. "That explains a few things. You want me to go up there and drag you back up?"

"I'm going," Daniel said, and then he slithered back out of view. "Ow," his voice said a second later, and then, "I'm fine, don't come up!"

Carter snorted. "I swear, sometimes Daniel's such a _little kid!_ " she said, raising her voice loud enough for Daniel to hear above them. They received an answering stomp from the ceiling.

More quietly, now they knew there was a possibility of eavesdroppers, Jack said, "As long as he's enjoying himself."

"Did you know, sir," she said, "that the Abydons have found a stash of naquadah--they followed one of the mines to an underground storage facility, apparently, where there are some blocks of weapons-grade material that must have been left over from Ra's era."

Jack turned to give her a disbelieving look. "Are you talking work, _Sam_?"

"Sorry, sir," she said. "Jack. Colonel."

"Colonel Jack," Teal'c deadpanned.

Jack sighed, moving toward the lamp in the middle of their lodging to pinch it out. "Daniel's a bad influence on you two," he told them, and then her words registered. "Wait, the _Abydons_ found a naquadah stash at the end of a mine? Since when have we been putting them to work?"

"We're not making them do anything," she said. "Sha'uri told me they're helping by choice, scouting the mines and helping SG teams. It's their way of contributing--apparently, Daniel and Skaara have forbidden them to join the SGC in a more active capacity, but she's very gung-ho about doing _something_ , at least."

"Really," Jack said. "Well...good." He supposed it made sense that the woman was keen to help the SGC, even if Skaara had settled back in at home. Her son was still out there, after all, and if she was anything like Daniel, she had to have a grudge against Apophis--and Heru-ur--the size of this planet. It was probably a good thing she was Kasuf's right-hand woman, according to Daniel, or as close to it as women could get in Nagada; if nothing else, duty to her own people might keep her from going through the 'gate on her own and getting herself killed. Louder, he said, "Daniel, are you coming down?"

"I'll be right there," Daniel called back from upstairs.

"He's probably reading or taking notes on something," Carter said quietly. "He'll be fine, sir."

"Yeah, I know," Jack said. "Ready or not, lights-out in three...two...one..."

...x...

Jack couldn't tell at first what had woken him. He sat up in the relative darkness and realized--Teal'c was still in _kelno'reem_ and Carter sleeping, but Daniel was gone.

Given the past few weeks--years, even--he didn't consider it unreasonably paranoid that his first thought was to wonder who'd managed to kidnap Daniel from under all of their noses. His next thoughts were more rational, though, and he decided that wouldn't happen, not on Abydos and not with the three of them used to waking up at a sign of danger. More likely, Daniel had just snuck out, and Jack managed to get to the door without waking anyone for the same reason--the noise of teammates moving around was normal enough not to disturb them.

The village was quiet at night, but not completely silent. There were walls surrounding the whole town, after all; it wasn't what Jack would call a dangerous place for kids to run around at night.

In fact, as he turned a corner, a boy who had to be about five years old ran headfirst into Jack's leg, which only made two other boys collide with _him_ from behind.

The first one had landed on the ground and was staring up at Jack with wide eyes. Jack picked him up, winked, and set him back down on his feet. "Keep going!" he said. "Run! Go!"

The boy giggled and zipped away, his friends hurtling after him.

Jack watched them laugh and make their way down the path, then turned around and found himself face-to-face with a much larger Abydonian boy who carried a knife at his belt. He was Daniel's age, probably, maybe a little younger, but there was no mistaking him for anything but a guard keeping watch.

"Hello," Jack said warily, suddenly wondering if he'd missed some weird protocol about dealing with children who ran into him at night.

The boy nodded to him. "O'Neill," he said.

"Was I supposed to walk them home or something?" Jack said, jerking a thumb in the direction of the playing children.

"They are playing," the boy said, which Jack decided to take as a 'no.'

"Yeah, I got that," Jack said. "So. I was just looking for Daniel. Did you happen to see where he went?" The boy pointed toward the gates of the village. Jack felt his eyebrows rise. "He walked out of town? What--where--"

"He is with Mel and Claire," the boy said, and for a stupidly horrible moment, Jack thought he meant Daniel had found a way to get himself killed in the last few hours. And then he pointed again and said, "They are...in ground. Buried. Outside."

"Ah," Jack said. "He'll be okay out there?" The boy didn't seem to understand Jack's meaning--Daniel's department always warned teams that terms like 'okay' didn't translate well--so he added, "There aren't...wild animals that come out at night or..." The guard looked amused. "Right," Jack said. "Guess you guys know how to deal with stuff like that, huh."

"Yes," the boy said. "You go also?"

"Uh...sure," Jack decided. "Just that way?"

It took both of them together to push the heavy gates open, but once Jack was outside, he could see a single lamp burning in the distance. He made his way alone but hesitated at the edge of what looked like a sort of graveyard. He must have made some noise, though, because the lamp rose from the ground to illuminate Daniel's face as he stood and made his way toward Jack. 

"What's wrong?" Daniel said once he'd stepped past the last grave.

"Nothing's wrong," Jack said. "I was just..." He waved a hand.

As if that made sense, Daniel's shoulders relaxed. "Oh," he said, nodding.

Jack tried to think of something to say, only to regret it when the first moronic thing that came out was, "I never get used to seeing you dressed like this."

Even in the dim candlelight, he could see Daniel's brows shoot up and then crunch back down in a frown. "O...okay," he said.

"Bet it's more comfortable than our gear, in this heat," Jack said, flicking a finger at the light, woven Abydonian clothing.

"Yes," Daniel agreed.

"Yep," Jack said.

"Have you ever come here before?" Daniel said.

" _Here,_ here?" Jack said. "Can't say I have."

"These are our burial grounds. Did you want to..." Daniel pointed out to where he'd just been, then said, "My parents are buried out there."

Jack wasn't the biggest fan of graveyards--they were awkward and uncomfortable, and he never knew what the hell he was expected to do or what taboos he was breaking. Still, he saw Daniel's expression faltering and said, "Yeah, okay."

There was a small, flat stone slab with the Jacksons' names, as well as hieroglyphs. Jack wanted to know whether he was standing right on top of them or behind their heads or something, but there didn't seem to be a good way to phrase the question. "Uh," Jack said.

"You don't have to, you know, say anything," Daniel said, ducking his head, his hands searching for pockets that didn't exist in his robe. "Or--"

"Right," Jack said, feeling like an idiot. It was odd to think he'd once known Daniel only as Melburn and Claire's son, and now he was realizing he'd barely known them at all, really, except as Daniel's parents. "Nice genes," he told their grave.

Daniel let out a surprised laugh. "Thanks," he said. "I think."

"You talk to them?" Jack asked.

"No, not...really," Daniel said. "I'll have time to talk to them when I'm dead, and if that's not what happens when we die, it's not like I'll be around to care, so... I just came here to think."

"About what?" Jack said, because that was a dark sort of sentiment--though it wasn't wrong--and there had to be better places to meditate than in the middle of a graveyard.

Daniel shrugged again. "A lot of things. Sam says the law of averages isn't really a law."

"Well...you don't get arrested for breaking it," Jack said, deciding to ride out the change in topic.

"Do you ever wonder 'why us?'"

"Nope," Jack said.

"Never?" Daniel pressed.

Jack shook his head. "No one dragged me into this kicking and screaming. Okay, actually, they _did_ drag me out of retirement, but--"

"No, no, not that," Daniel interrupted. "I mean...why are we still alive? Of everyone."

"Ah," Jack said, understanding now. "And still 'no.' My team survives, I'm okay with that." When no answer came right away, he said, "What?"

Daniel pulled his robe around himself and folded his arms. "All our personnel are good, Jack--the elite of their fields. Even considering that I joined SG-1 later and don't go on every mission, the four of us have probably been on as many missions together as any other four people without being split up or...or needing a replacement. And they haven't all been the safest missions, either, but we're still alive. What are the chances of that?"

"I leave the statistics to Carter," Jack said, sticking his own hands into his pockets and hoping he still sounded calm. "And it's not just chance. Like I said, I'm okay with not being dead."

A pause. Then, "Well, yeah," Daniel said, kicking a sandaled foot through loose, soft soil. "Me too, I guess. I was just...wondering. I can't stop thinking..."

Jack watched him play with the bandage on his hand. "Daniel? Something you want to tell me?"

"Like what, Jack?"

"Daniel..."

"I'm glad we're alive, okay?" he said. "I just think it's strange--like...it shouldn't..." He stopped again.

Jack said the first thing that came to mind, which was, "Have you been taking those pain meds Fraiser gave you?"

Daniel rolled his eyes, reflexively cradling his hand to himself. "No, Jack."

"Why not? You're supposed to."

"Jack, I'm _thinking_ , not high or...or delirious."

"Well, sometimes it's hard to tell with you," Jack said. "And I'm gonna need some elaboration on your not-so-comforting thought process."

"Think of it this way," Daniel said. There was something stiff about his voice, too even to be normal. "I died in the womb, right? It's in my medical file. I died before I lived, and only a...a remarkable set of circumstances made me not _stay_ dead. And that's not even the only time. So everything after that should be--every second of my _life_ is--"

"What, borrowed time?" Jack snapped.

"--extra," Daniel finished.

Jack stared at him. Daniel's eyes were wide and scared, and the lamplight threw shadows over the healing scratch on his cheek and the cut on his lip where he'd bitten through it in pain at some point. "If you really think that," Jack said, "then I'll be forced to take you off duty for...for however long it takes to get your head back on straight."

"There's nothing wrong with my head," Daniel said. "I'm just--"

"Oh, I disagree," Jack said.

"Jack, how many times should I have died in the past few years alone?"

"There's no 'should,' Daniel. You almost died a few times; you didn't. And..." Daniel looked away. Jack took a breath. "And," he went on, "sometimes other people do. It shouldn't happen, but it does, and it sucks. But it doesn't mean your number's up."

"I know that," Daniel muttered. "The law of averages isn't..." He didn't finish.

With a sigh, Jack looked around himself, trying to decide whether there was a polite way to get the hell out of the sea of dead people while they talked about whether or not they were going to die.

He was pretty sure Daniel hadn't spent the last few years secretly thinking he was somehow less worthy of being alive than everyone else. Daniel fought for things, and not just for his friends or his mission; he fought for himself, too, for his ideas, for what he wanted, for his life. It was so much a part of who he was that Jack refused to think otherwise.

Except when Daniel stopped fighting. Like that time, just a week ago...

"You thought you were going to die on '888," Jack said.

"I think fairly often that I'm about to die," Daniel pointed out wryly.

"Not like that," Jack said. "In the middle of a fight, maybe, when you're too busy shooting back and running around to really think about it, but you've never been tied up in a cave and so sure you were going to die that you left a 'goodbye' message."

Daniel laughed uncomfortably, the sound brittle. "That, uh...that wasn't a... That was a quick attempt at recording data about a novel species we'd never met before in...in that particular--"

"You thought you were going to die," Jack repeated.

"Yes, Jack," Daniel snapped, "I thought I was going to die." More quietly, he added, "I _knew_ I was."

"And then you didn't."

Looking at his feet, Daniel said, "I drew arrows for you to find. I didn't want you to think...I wanted you know what happened to me. In retrospect," he added, "that was pretty stupid--it would have led you right into the midst of a clan of Unas."

"Call me crazy," Jack said, "but I'm happy about the way that part of it turned out."

"I joined the SGC thinking that any extra bit of help I could provide was...extra help. I'm not a commander or a leader of anything, not like you and Sam and Teal'c. Or R...Robert and Major Hawkins. No one was supposed to die for me."

Jack looked over his shoulder to see someone still standing guard near the gates. "You're not just some extra person, not to the SGC, not to Abydos. Not to us," he said, resolving to listen closer when they got home. If Daniel thought it was a poor trade, him for Rothman and SG-11, whether or not SG-11 would have been lost anyway, Jack knew others might be thinking it, too, and maybe whispering about it to each other where they thought no one could hear. "SG-11 was killed fighting against the enemy. That's...that sucks, but it's not about you for them. It's all of _us_ versus the enemy."

"Robert wouldn't have been fighting any enemy there if not for me," Daniel said, his voice strained. "That's the difference, Jack--he didn't die trying to fight the Goa'uld; he died trying to save _my life_."

Which was true. If it had been anyone else, Rothman wouldn't have tried to go, and Jack wouldn't have let him. "Dr. Rothman cared about you," Jack said. "More than he cared about anyone on base. He wouldn't have regretted what he did. That's what you remember."

"He's what I might have been if not for the Stargate," Daniel said. "The kind of scientist my parents would have wanted me to be."

Despite having thought that himself before, Jack couldn't imagine it anymore. "Your parents never saw what you've seen," Jack said, sending an apologetic look toward the grave they were standing next to. "But _we_ have. Dr. Rothman was a good man, but we like you the way you are, Daniel, not the way you might've been. And definitely not dead."

Daniel bit his lip. "Sometimes I don't like the way I am."

"Hey," Jack said. "Look who you're talking to. I know how you feel. We all do, sometimes."

"I'm sorry," Daniel said immediately, looking guilty. "I shouldn't have said that--"

"Don't apologize," Jack said, then found himself at a loss for anything else to say, because he knew from experience that having those thoughts in one's head wasn't a good place to be. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't...uh, work on translations until Janet clears me to start taking missions again, I guess."

"Good," Jack said. "So nothing...drastic?"

"What are you talking about?" Daniel said, looking confused. "I'm not leaving. I mean, as small as the chance might seem these days, I still have a baby brother out there somewhere, and then, fighting the Goa'uld will never _not_ be important to me. I'm thinking, not planning anything." He raised his eyebrows. "Some of us do that, you know. You should try it."

"You are the pain in my ass," Jack told him and watched a half-smile flicker across his face and away in the lamplight. "But...you know you can...talk to us, right? If you need to?"

Daniel frowned, looking puzzled. "What are you expecting me to say? Contrary to popular SGC belief, I'm not in constant imminent danger of cracking under the pressure and going nuts."

"It's not _that_ popular," Jack said, though he was a little relieved, anyway.

"It is in the sense that a lot of people seem to think it at any given time."

"We don't," Jack said, gesturing vaguely in the direction of the rest of his team in the village.

"Well," Daniel said, "you're all popularly believed to be a little nuts, too."

Jack opened his mouth to protest, then closed it and shrugged. "Yeah, whatever," he said. Daniel shook his head and started out toward the village gates. "Hey, you'd tell us, right?" Jack said, following along. "If you needed something."

Daniel turned to look over his shoulder. "Yeah," he said. "Don't worry."

"It's my job to worry," Jack pointed out.

"I know," Daniel said. "That's why you don't have to worry."

"Why do I always believe you'll start making sense if I wish hard enough?" Jack said.

"You never learn," Daniel teased. "Come on--it's a long day tomorrow."

"Why is it a long day?" Jack said, because he didn't remember planning anything.

"Because days are long here," Daniel reminded him, quirking a quick smile. Jack snorted and jogged to catch up.

XXXXX

**_24 December 2000; Nagada, Abydos; 1300 hrs_ **

Jack woke in the morning to the smell of coffee and opened his eyes to see Carter reading something in a notebook. The other two were nowhere to be seen. "Is there enough for me?" he said, startling her into looking up.

"Yes, sir," she said handing him a cup of crappy instant coffee. "I know _I'm_ gonna need it--it's over twenty-four hours before night falls in earnest, and with the long nights, we're up before most people are awake."

"People here have way too much energy," Jack muttered. "What's that you've got there?"

She hesitated, then said, "Daniel asked me to look this over."

"Work?"

"In...a manner of speaking. Well, yes. It could be."

Wary about her hesitance, Jack lowered his cup of coffee and said, "Carter, what is that?"

"It's a proposal, sir," she said. "For, uh, the study of, and establishment of relations with, the Unas of P3X-888, as well as the continuation of previously-recorded research efforts that have been conducted in that area."

"Oh, for cryin' out loud," Jack said, pushing his head out past the curtain to see if he could glimpse Daniel around anywhere. "He's still going on about that?"

"Sir, he's got some good points," she said.

"So have the Unas," Jack said. "On their _claws._ " She didn't answer. Jack let the curtain fall shut and turned around to see her looking down at the proposal again. "You disagree?"

"No, sir, I don't disagree," she said. "The Unas have very sharp claws."

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Was that sarcasm, Carter?"

Carter looked up. "Sir, I understand the reluctance to let _anyone_ , much less Daniel, go back to that planet, and to an extent, I agree. But that planet is a treasure trove of knowledge--"

"Unas, Carter!" Jack said. "Loder killed. Goa'uld in the water that no one can even sense without an MRI, and everyone else killed by the Goa'uld. Remember that? Do you remember what state he was in when we found him?"

"I remember," she said. "But I think we need to consider the _possibility_ that Daniel's right about the Unas--that whatever connection he created with his kidnapper really is one based on reason and not a...an unhealthy psychological dependence on--"

"You've been hitting the books," Jack accused.

"Yes," she said unapologetically. "And I've been talking to Janet and Dr. Mackenzie."

Jack mulled over that--credentials aside, few of them enjoyed going to Mackenzie willingly for advice, so if Carter had... "What'd they say?"

"That there are well-documented cases of captives or hostages who form an emotional attachment to their captor, as I'm sure you know," she said. "Not a whole lot that we didn't all learn in resistance and escape. They also pointed out that Daniel was only with the Unas for a day or so, and he was probably not past the point of hoping for an escape or a rescue--his reasoning could be...well, reasoned, and not an irrational bond. None of us can claim to know the whole story, and until we have evidence either way of the Unas's intentions, we can't be certain."

Jack looked at the report in her hands. "Do _you_ buy it?"

"Sir, if we'd been a little further from this situation, I'd have given this to you sooner with my recommendation," she said. "In fact, as I understand it, Dr. Reeve has already approved and will be recommending to the general that a research team be sent there."

"Dr. Reeve is overwhelmed and barely knows what the hell his job's supposed to be right now! He'll sign anything Daniel puts in front of him, especially if it has the words 'in the field' somewhere in the description," Jack said.

"I'm just saying that you should read it," Carter said, handing the report to him.

Jack took it reluctantly but put it down. "Where is Daniel, anyway?"

"Outside the village. Teal'c said he'd be careful."

"Carefu--are they _training_?" Jack said, standing. "Those two are going to be the death of me."

Carter followed him out of the house and toward the village gates. "Well, sir, it's not often any of us gets the chance to train outside the base, especially for the two of them."

"Yeah," Jack said, "because the two of _them_ hit each other with sticks and yell at each other in foreign languages. It tends to draw the unwanted kind of attention."

She suppressed a smile. "It's only Daniel who gets yelled at."

"It's also Daniel who usually gets hit and who currently has stitches holding one of his tendons in one piece."

"Teal'c wouldn't let him get hurt," she said as they stepped outside and made their way toward two figures standing in the sand. "I'm sure they're going easy."

"Ah," Jack said when they were close enough to see Daniel and Teal'c clearly. "He's pulled out the blindfold again."

Daniel didn't seem to be particularly happy about that fact, but it was hard to tell just what he was feeling, being that he was blindfolded.

"Sometimes I wonder," Carter said as Teal'c circled around while Daniel worked through some vaguely familiar-looking exercise sequence with a short staff, one-handed and blind, "whether Jaffa training techniques are really as effective on humans as they are on Jaffa. I mean, Daniel's senses aren't as sharp as Teal'c's, and I'm not convinced they'll _get_ as sharp as Teal'c's just by being pushed this way."

Jack shrugged and folded his arms. "I've questioned Teal'c's methods before. He just insists that this part is even more important for Daniel than it was for him, in case the glasses fall off or anything."

Teal'c stopped deliberately. Daniel whirled and swung his staff in that direction. It struck out the right way, but Teal'c caught it easily in one hand. Daniel overbalanced and toppled over backward, holding his injured hand clear. "It's kind of painful to watch," Carter commented.

"Ow," Daniel said, flopping back to the sand. Teal'c dropped the staff next to him and watched him lie there but didn't poke at him to get up. "I can't feel my arm," he added, waving his left arm in the air.

"You must strengthen it," Teal'c said. "You rely too heavily on your right arm."

"That's because it's better than the other one," Daniel said. "Usually." Then Teal'c moved another step to the side. Daniel swept a leg viciously in that direction, twisting to get an impressive amount of force behind it and whipping Teal'c's legs out from under him. "Was that you?" Daniel said. "Did I get you?"

"Maybe we should leave them to it," Jack said while Teal'c smiled and picked himself up. "Skaara said he'd show me today how they fish around here."

"Jack?" Daniel said, sitting up and flailing his arms in front of himself. "I heard Jack's voice. Are you here? Teal'c, is he here?"

Just for fun, Jack tapped Daniel on the top of the head before running off with Carter in the direction of the river. This was a mistake, because Daniel elbowed him hard in the knee, and it took all of Jack's effort not to make a sound as he limped away.

"Not a word, Major," he warned when Carter looked like she wanted to burst out laughing.

"Yes, sir," she chuckled.

XXXXX

**_25 December 2000; Nagada, Abydos; 1900 hrs_ **

"Did you read my proposal?" Daniel said at their evening meal that they were sharing with the guards in the 'gate room.

Jack stopped with a piece of bread about to enter his mouth. "No," he said. "Because we're on vacation, and, unlike some people around here, I don't like to work when I'm on vacation."

Daniel sighed.

"Proposal?" Skaara spoke up from next to them. "What is this?"

"Oh, uh..." Daniel said, looking to the rest of them as if unsure what he was supposed to say. Since their confidentiality laws didn't apply out here, Jack stuffed the bread into his mouth and let Daniel answer. "I want to go to a planet where we think we can learn a lot." He turned back to give Jack a challenging look, then looked at Carter. "Right, Sam, there's a lot to learn on '888?"

Carter had a mouthful of water and looked like she wished she could avoid answering. Finally, she swallowed, glancing apprehensively at Jack, then said, "It's true that there's probably a lot to learn, but there's a question of whether the risk is _worth_ what we'd learn."

"With what we know now, and allies there, I think we can--"

"Skaara," Jack said. "Did Daniel mention that what he means by 'allies' are the Unas, particularly the one who kidnapped him to begin with?"

Maybe it was something that came only with years of practice, but Skaara managed to make Daniel shut up with a single look.

"Dan'yel?" Skaara said, sounding confused. "Why would you want this?"

"It's not what you think," Daniel protested.

"I know of the Unas," Skaara said.

"These are...are the enemies of the Goa'uld. One of them saved my life. Jack, you know that," he added, turning around.

Skaara lowered his voice to speak in Abydonian. Daniel turned back to him, shaking his head and gesticulating vigorously with a hand wrapped in a bandage, which Jack thought was not the best way to convince someone that Daniel understood risks and safety well.

"Perhaps we should all return to P3X-888," Teal'c spoke up. "It is true that there is much to be learned there. Furthermore," he added when Jack started to respond, "Major Carter says that the research department has already recommended the mission. If we do not accept it, it is likely that another team will be sent to the planet with Daniel Jackson."

"They need him if they're going to initiate contact with the Unas," Carter added. "Someone'll probably get the mission and he'll go with whichever team it is."

Just then, Jack saw Skaara nodding. "I understand," he said, clapping Daniel on the shoulder.

"Another convert," Jack said.

"Convert?" Daniel echoed. "So I'm...converting people to some irrational, unsupported point of view?"

"No one said that, Daniel," Carter said.

"I've studied this Unas extensively," Daniel said, "and _he's_ studied _me_. I think I'd know if he had any intentions other than to be friends and...and exchange...knowledge or whatever we might be able to offer."

Jack sighed. "I'm not saying anything right now, Daniel. It's Christmas. I haven't even read the damn proposal yet. We're going back to work tomorrow--can you stop thinking for...long enough to have dinner?"

Daniel took a deep breath and nodded slowly. "Yes. Okay. I'll ask you tomorrow."

"That's fine," Jack agreed. "Eat up. Good food."

They ate in silence, letting the happy Abydonian chatter flow over them, and then Daniel let his head fall into his good hand. Before they could say anything, he mumbled, "'m sorry," and walked out of the pyramid.

"Crap," Jack said.

"Daniel!" Carter called, following him out.

"No," Daniel said when they'd caught up to him. "Look--go back--"

"Hey," Jack said. "Slow down--I'm gonna get lost out here in the dark!"

Daniel stopped and turned around. "You can't follow tracks in sand?"

Jack glanced back to see Teal'c closing in on their little group. "Okay, so we won't get lost. But--where are you going?"

"I'm not going anywhere," Daniel said. "I just had to get out of there for a--" His voice cracked. "A minute. I'll be right back, I promise."

"Okay," Jack said, holding up his hands. "Okay. You want some company?"

"Not really," Daniel said. "That was the point of--"

"They don't understand," Jack said, gesturing back toward the pyramid. "Right? Everyone's so cheerful because they don't know, and it's too soon. But we get it, okay? Come on. Let's..." He glanced back once, where Skaara was watching in concern from the pyramid entrance, then spread his arms. "Everyone sit down. Right here. I'll be right back."

With help from Skaara to figure out what everything was, Jack returned a minute later to find the other three all standing in the dark. "Jack, what are you doing?" Daniel said.

"I thought I said to sit down," Jack said, handing out the bowls and pouring a splash of wine into each of them.

"Do you know what that is?" Daniel said, though he didn't complain as Jack gave him his share. "You're serving alcohol to a minor. That's, uh..."

"...not a law here," Jack said. "Teal'c, water for you."

Carter looked dubiously into her bowl. "Thank you, sir. Do you actually _know_ what this is, or...?"

"Sure," Jack lied. Once they all had about a shot's worth in their bowls, he said, "So."

"We honor our fallen brothers and sisters," Teal'c said.

Relieved, Jack raised his bowl. " _And_ the ones still living."

"To friends," Carter added, raising her bowl.

Daniel finally joined in. "To remembrance," he said tightly.

They tapped their bowls together gently and drank.

Jack barely managed not to choke. "Holy crap," he coughed.

Daniel laughed, though he was wiping his eyes at the same time. Jack suspected it was from more than the sting of the alcohol. "It's, uh...it's easier the second time," Daniel said. He cleared his throat and took another more cautious sip--he'd been smarter than Jack and hadn't tried to down it all in a single gulp.

Carter made a noise suspiciously like a giggle. "Aren't we supposed to be the ones coaching you on how to drink? Oh, god, this is strong."

"Maybe we should all just follow Teal'c's example from now on and stay away from alcohol," Jack said, noticing that Teal'c looked like his drink had gone down a lot easier than the rest of theirs. "Geez."

"You will not think that for long, O'Neill," Teal'c said, sipping again at his water. "You have simply grown accustomed to the fare of Earth."

"Yeah, probably," Jack conceded. "Hey, slow down," he added when Daniel gulped the last of the stuff in his bowl. "You okay?" Daniel nodded, not looking up. "Everyone good?"

"We're good," Carter said.

"Indeed," Teal'c added.

Once they'd all fallen silent again, Jack said, "Listen. Maybe we shouldn't've brought up '888 just now. When we go home, I'll read your report, and once we're all a hundred percent, we can start talking about how to approach the problem."

Daniel nodded again. "Okay. Thank you."

Jack dropped onto his back and looked up, thinking that, sometime, he should ask Daniel to tell him what they called the constellations on this planet.

"That's my Orion," Daniel said suddenly, as if reading Jack's mind.

"We can't see Orion from Abydos," Carter said. "Angle's wrong."

"Not _Orion_ Orion," Daniel explained, lying next to Jack so their eyes lined up and he could point. " _My_ Orion. My father made it up. See? The belt--one, two, and kind-of three...and the shoulders--there and there...I never remember which ones are supposed to be the club, but if you look at those five, there, see? It's like a...well, a lion's skin, but I suppose that can look like whatever shape you want it to."

"I see it," Jack said, and he did, too. It was just a mess of stars, really, but what else were constellations but a mess of stars between which they drew lines?

Carter lay down with the top of her head touching Daniel's and said, "Wait, show me again?"

Teal'c was already lying on the other side of Daniel. "Your Orion lacks a head," he said when the explanation had been given again.

"Yeah, I've always thought so, too," Daniel admitted. "There's that bit up there, but it's lopsided."

Jack closed his eyes and breathed the scent of alcohol on his tongue and sweat from the people around him and the desert in the air.


	16. Preparations

**_15 January 2001; Briefing Room, SGC; 0900 hrs_ **

Jack drummed his fingers on the table. "So," he said to Teal'c as they waited for the others. "No idea what this one's about?"

"I believe we are to discuss MALP telemetry," Teal'c said, folding his hands on the table.

"You know our opinion's not gonna count," Jack said. "If they're briefing the general, it means they've already checked for safety, and they've got numbers and...and translations and things."

"All you have to do is say, 'I agree, General,'" Daniel said, scurrying up the stairs. "I'll wink at you when it's time."

Jack scowled.

"Then you have identified a planet that you wish to explore, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said.

"Sam and I have, yes," Daniel said, sliding into a seat next to Jack.

"How's your hand?" Jack said, watching him pick up a pen and tap it against his files.

In answer, Daniel clenched it into a fist a few times. The scar was still vivid on his palm--it might never disappear completely, but considering what it had looked like after he'd yanked the knife out of it, Jack was glad it was as whole as it was. It wasn't a life-threatening injury, but as long as he couldn't grab things well and work a pistol, it had kept him completely grounded.

"It's stiff," Daniel admitted, "but functional enough, and apparently, it'll improve the more I exercise it. Janet says I'm lucky it'll get better." As if to prove it, he picked up his pen and twirled it between his fingers.

"Sorry, sir," Carter said, coming in from the control room. "I was just finishing with some data. With the DHD up, we're able to screen through potential planets really fast."

"Then let's get going," the general said, waving them back into their seats. "Major Carter, would you like to start?"

"Thank you, sir," she said, still working on plugging in her laptop. "This is P30-255, the planet Daniel and I have been looking at recently."

The screen changed to a picture of something very...well... "It's purple," Jack said.

Daniel tilted his head at the screen. "Not everything."

"There's a purple tree staring at me," Jack said.

"It's not staring at you, Jack."

"It's _purple_ , Daniel."

"But only the trees," Daniel said, as if that made it better.

"Daniel Jackson, is that not a ziggurat?" Teal'c said.

"Yes," Daniel said, looking relieved. "See, Jack, if you look _beyond_ the purple trees..."

"Wh--wait a minute," Jack said, holding up a hand. "Ziggurats...isn't that Mesopotamia?"

"Well, sir," Carter said, "it's not like a Goa'uld would have _had_ to transplant cultures to places with, uh, matching climates."

"Nor is there any Tau'ri climate that would match with trees of such a hue," Teal'c added.

"In fact," Daniel added, "the climate of this place seems to be a lot friendlier than P2X-388, the planet with Marduk and the Eye of Tiamat. This is fertile enough for a lot of vegetation, with mild temperatures and precipitation comparable to that of local Earth..."

"And the MALP shows no sign of complex life as far as its sensors reach," Carter added. "So it could be abandoned, and on top of that, we don't have to worry about heatstroke like on '388."

"And what are you expecting to find there?" Hammond said.

"Well..." Daniel said, "we don't know. But we've met one Goa'uld so far from the Mesopotamian pantheon--sort of met--and I'd like to learn more. More about Tiamat's race, for instance, or whether Marduk left any other traces behind on this planet, or even information about the Eye of Tiamat and other devices Marduk might have used..."

"It's abandoned?" Jack clarified.

"It may be impossible to know for certain until we explore farther than the MALP was able to see," Teal'c said. "However, it is possible that we will learn about other related Goa'uld and whether they still live."

"But the tree is purple," Jack said.

"I'd like a few samples from that," Carter said, tilting her head at the picture of the purple tree.

"Objections, Colonel?" Hammond said.

Jack thought about objecting to the hours they'd have to spend slogging through another abandoned temple but thought better of it. "No, sir, no good objections. I assume that one's next up for us."

Hammond nodded. "We have a lot of teams already on missions, so I'll send SG-1 to P30-255 as soon as more of our personnel are back on base in case of emergencies. In the meantime...I need to discuss P3X-888 with you."

Daniel looked up. Jack did, too.

"I've reviewed your reasons for wanting to return," Hammond said. "I'm willing to authorize one mission to see whether or not it's safe to pursue relations with the Unas clan you met there. You will all familiarize yourself with the revised protocols to ensure that no Goa'uld infestation is possible, and I'm considering this a highly dangerous planet until further notice. If it weren't for the fact that your presence might be required to establish communications with the leader of that tribe, Mr. Jackson, you wouldn't be going at all."

"Yes, sir," Daniel said. "I understand. Thank you."

"You'll all go to P3X-888 with SG-11 following the mission to P30-255, barring any complications," Hammond said. "If long-term studies are deemed a viable option, then I will send SG-11 back there to continue those studies."

Daniel stiffened. "SG...11?"

"Four newly recruited members are being trained right now, and they'll form SG-11 as an engineering and research support team when they're done," Hammond said.

"Oh," Daniel said, looking down at his notes.

"By the time SG-1 finishes on P30-255, SG-11 will have finished their on-base training and orientations. They'll be ready for the training tour on the Alpha Site around the same time that Mr. Jackson and Dr. Balinsky are scheduled to finish their second tour of training; I thought we could combine the teams for a joint session. Your mission to P3X-888 will take place after that."

Jack looked around the table. "By 'joint session,' do you mean SG-11 and -13 plus Daniel, or _all_ of us?"

"SG-1 hasn't run any training sessions in over a year," Hammond pointed out. "I thought you might want to oversee this one yourself."

"Yes, sir," Jack said. Daniel turned to give him a considering look, which made him realize he should really talk to Dixon or Warren about what kinds of things Daniel liked to pull in training sessions. Since Daniel had helped _run_ these kinds of scenarios before...it would be interesting. "But the purple tree planet comes first."

XXXXX

**_19 January 2001; Temple, P30-255; 1100 hrs_ **

As it turned out, it was a good thing Daniel had insisted on bringing a lot of books with him to P30-255. "It'll just be me this time," he'd pointed out, "not...you know. Two people together."

Fortunately, Mesopotamian Goa'ulds weren't too original in the way they locked their doors. At the temple, Daniel tapped one of the bricks experimentally to check that it was, in fact, the same kind of puzzle as the one he and Rothman had solved on P2X-388 and said, "All right. Now I just have to read this, see what myth it is, and figure out what's out of order."

Unfortunately, Daniel wasn't much more an expert on Mesopotamia than he had been back when they'd fished out the Eye of Tiamat, though he claimed that this language was a lot easier to read and matched up much better with Earth dictionaries. Also, Jack still thought the purple trees were weird, but they turned out to be oddly charming up close. Carter was having fun collecting plant life.

Finally, Daniel backed away to open yet another book and said, "Okay. I've got it. It's about the goddess Inanna and her descent into the underworld. Uh, actually...I think she called herself Ishtar, most of the time, except for ritual stuff like this." He waved at the wall.

Jack glanced at Teal'c, who said, "I know very little of Ishtar, but she is indeed a minor Goa'uld."

"Hm," Daniel said absently, still paging through his book. "Well, I need to find the part in this book where she's taking off her clothes..."

Carter's eyes widened. Jack could only shrug back at her. Daniel didn't seem to notice anything wrong. "So, uh..." Jack said, clearing his throat. "Who's Ishtar, and why is she taking off her clothes?"

"She's the goddess of fertility, love, war," Daniel said. "Called the courtesan of the gods. Some argue that she wasn't a mother goddess, exactly, but was definitely very associated with sex and...that sort of thing. I'm looking for the myth in which she went to the underworld--the guardians at each stage made her take off pieces of her clothing as a representation of her progressive loss of power."

"Sure," Carter muttered sourly. "Strip the woman and say _she's_ the one who was big on sex."

Daniel didn't seem to notice the comments and went on, "Ishtar was also said to be cruel to her lovers--even Gilgamesh didn't dare to be her lover. She tended to take a man and then kill him. Or send him to Hell, in the case of her husband."

"So..." Jack said, "like Hathor, but meaner."

"Uh...and in Sumer," Daniel said. "Babylon. But Hathor was a System Lord while Ishtar wasn't, which, well, if you're making a judgment of mean or nice... Okay, I found it," he said, cutting off his own discussion and scooting closer again, juggling his books and flashlight so he could see. "First, she takes off the _shugurra_ crown..." He pushed in the first brick. "Then the lapis lazuli rod...the necklace...the beads at her breast...her breastplate, where is it--oh, here it is...her gold bracelets...and her dress."

The stone door crunched and slowly rose. "Nice," Jack said, once it looked like it was clear.

"And no crumbling ceiling this time," Daniel said, sitting back and looking satisfied for a brief second before he ducked his head and began to gather his books.

"Which might mean it hasn't been quite as long since someone came in," Carter pointed out.

Jack grimaced and gripped his gun. "Heads up," he said.

...x...

"No one in the immediate vicinity," Jack said after enough time had passed that it wouldn't feel like jinxing the mission to say it. "Daniel, how's that old stuff looking?"

"Old," Daniel said, frowning at a tablet lying on the ground.

Jack shone his flashlight in his direction.

"Jack," Daniel complained, blocking the light from his eyes. "There's not as much writing here as there was inside Marduk's temple," he explained, "but there are a few tablets and other slabs that look like they were broken off something. We should be able to take them back with us, but last time we went around touching things in a ziggurat, I set off a booby trap, so..."

"Good call," Jack agreed. "Carter, take a good look at whatever Daniel wants to touch before he touches it. When you're done, the two of you load up the FRED and get it ready to send back through the 'gate." She nodded and moved to crouch next to Daniel. "Teal'c, let's take a look around this ziggurat."

Later, as Teal'c followed him through to another chamber in the ziggurat, Jack commented, "Would it kill them to put up some lights in these places?"

Teal'c gave him a look that managed to be expressive despite the darkness.

"Do you recognize any anything?" Jack said. "What do _you_ know about this...Ishy person?"

"Ishtar," Teal'c corrected. "I know very little of Ishtar's recent activities--only that she was once a minor Goa'uld under the rule of Ra, and it is believed that she retained some of his army after his death."

"Ra?" Jack said. He didn't have to be Daniel to know that was where reality broke from mythology.

"Indeed. Apophis did not know of her most recent whereabouts while I served under him."

"So...not dead," Jack clarified.

Teal'c tilted his head. "I do not know."

"Great," he muttered as they found another chamber. "All we need is--whoa, hold it right there. Dammit, Teal'c, tell me that's not a--"

Instead of answering, Teal'c reached up to his radio and said, "Major Carter, Daniel Jackson. We have found a sarcophagus."

_"Uh-oh,"_ Daniel said helpfully.

_"We just took the FRED to the Stargate,"_ Carter added, _"but we're on our way back."_

Jack sighed as they looked at the sarcophagus. "So help me," he said, "if we get trapped in one of these places because of some booby trap _again_..."

"This one does not appear to be sealed like the one we found in the temple of Marduk," Teal'c noted. "There are controls to allow it to open from the exterior."

"But not the _in_ terior?" Jack clarified.

"If I could see the interior," Teal'c said, "I would tell you that, O'Neill."

"Jack, where are you?" Daniel's voice called.

Not turning around, Jack called back, "In here!"

Carter appeared in the corridor behind them, Daniel following. "Should we try to open it, sir?"

"I'll bet there's a Goa'uld in there," Daniel said nervously, pulling out his gun.

"If Ishtar is in that sarcophagus," Carter said, "right now would probably be the best time to take her out--while she's just woken up, possibly a little disoriented, and clearly not surrounded by her armies..."

"Blow it up," Jack suggested.

"Uh..." Daniel said. "Ancient ziggurat...cave in...not to mention wanton destruction of a--"

The sarcophagus creaked.

Jack motioned for the others to take up positions to keep the Goa'uld pinned between them and the wall, then raised his gun. Teal'c crouched behind it, facing Jack but not in his line of fire; this way, at least one of them would be out of the Goa'uld's immediate field of vision.

The doors began to swing open. Jack squinted past the glare of light coming from the interior of the box and--

" _Naramu_?" a voice said from within. A woman sat up, and her eyes glowed as she surged to her feet and climbed out of the sarcophagus, facing Jack, Carter, and Daniel.

Gunfire rang out. Jack cursed himself a second later when he realized the bullets were bouncing off an energy shield around the woman, and he let go of his gun to pull his knife and whip it toward her.

It caught Ishtar in the side--not fatal, but enough to make her stumble.

Carter kept up her fire, and a single bullet made it through to Ishtar before the Goa'uld could raise her shield again. Daniel scrambled behind a pillar just in time to avoid a concussive blast from the ribbon device.

"Hold fire!" Jack yelled as Teal'c rose from where he'd been crouching behind the sarcophagus and tackled the woman from the back, slamming her to the ground.

It felt like only a second later when Teal'c was thrown off with a jerk, but when Ishtar stood again and raised her hand, the crystal was cracked.

" _Ashtapiru erhu!_ " she hissed, staring at the broken ribbon device.

"Now!" Jack ordered. Even as he pulled his gun around again, Carter and Daniel opened fire.

Ishtar, goddess of war though she might be, didn't stand a chance under the assault and fell to the ground, bleeding and unmoving.

"Teal'c?" Carter called.

"I am fine," Teal'c said, pushing himself back to his hands and knees. He reached toward her and tested for a pulse. "The Goa'uld is dead," he announced.

"Now, _that's_ what I call a clean strike," Jack said, unable to help feeling a little giddy at the thought that they'd just defeated a Goa'uld, just like that. Daniel was staring at the bullet hole-ridden body with something like both horror and fascination, so Jack added, "Carter, Daniel, make sure there are no more surprises in the sarcophagus and see if there's anything we can salvage."

Jack joined Teal'c at the Goa'uld's side, trying to decide whether to try to strip her of her ribbon device, even if it was broken, and whatever other technology she might have on her person. It was an odd feeling. They said all the time that the Goa'uld were as mortal as anyone--it was the rhetoric they often spouted to Jaffa starting to doubt their gods--but it wasn't often that they saw the proof so starkly like this. Without their armies and their technology--in this case, a little metal glove--Goa'uld were as easy to kill as any human.

"Damn," Carter's voice said. "There's damage to the sarcophagus."

"Well, she was definitely Ishtar," Daniel's voice said. "There's a lion amulet in here and a...a sym-symbol...the star...uh...the--"

"Daniel?" Carter said.

Jack turned around to see Daniel sway against the sarcophagus. Carter grabbed his arm. "What's going on?" Jack said.

"There's something..." Carter said, leaning over the sarcophagus as she steadied Daniel. "It's like some kind of mist--"

Without warning, Daniel's head whipped toward them and fixed on Ishtar's body. "No," Daniel said. "No--my queen!"

"What the--" Jack started, but then Daniel was throwing himself against Carter's grasp in his attempts to reach the Goa'uld. "Daniel, what the hell!" He stood, and then felt the ground start to tilt under his feet. "Whoa."

"Hathor," Carter said suddenly as Jack tried to blink his way back to focus. "We were saying she was like Hathor--Daniel, stop, it's me!" She barely managed to pull Daniel's gun from his hand and toss it out of reach.

A beeping sound came from the sarcophagus. "An alarm," Teal'c said as Jack blinked and tried to think.

"For what?" Carter said. "A trap?"

"Perhaps a call to her Jaffa," Teal'c said.

"Huh," Jack said, shaking his head.

"Teal'c, get Daniel to the Stargate; I'll take the colonel," Carter ordered. "We have to get out of here!"

"I'm okay," Jack said, shaking his head to clear it. "What's--" Carter took him unceremoniously by the arm as Teal'c dragged Daniel out of the room. "Where's he going? What the hell are you doing, Major?"

"It's fine, sir," she said, pushing him roughly toward the exit. Jack turned back to Ishtar, on the ground, noticing for the first time that she was an exceptionally beautiful goddess. "Colonel, you have to keep moving. We're in danger here."

"Are you giving me an order?" he asked her, wondering why his feet weren't resisting as she pushed him out of the ziggurat door.

"Uh...s-sure," she said. "Kind of."

"Well, stop it," Jack said, planting his feet. He turned again. "No--wait, we should go back. She's hurt. What happened?"

"Oh, god," Carter said as he made his way back to their queen. "I'm so, so sorry about this, sir."

"About what?" Jack said, and then something smashed into his head.

...x...

**_19 January 2001; Infirmary, SGC; 2000 hrs_ **

"...so on one hand," Carter's voice was saying when Jack opened his eyes to a splitting headache, "we killed a minor Goa'uld who may have held influence over some of Ra's former army. We even collected plant samples containing a chemical that seems to be the synthetic precursor to the drug Hathor and Ishtar used to subdue men. On the other hand..."

"Oy," Jack groaned.

"...there's that impending court-martial," she finished.

Jack caught a blurry glimpse of Carter, Teal'c, and General Hammond just before Dr. Fraiser appeared next to his bed. "Ow," he told her.

"I can imagine, Colonel," Fraiser said, shining a penlight into his eyes just to see how much more she could make his head hurt.

"Get that thing away from me," Jack snapped, batting the light away. "What the--?"

"Jack, shut up," Daniel said from one bed over. Jack turned his head gingerly to see Daniel in the process of covering his own head with his sheets.

Fraiser turned to him. "Stop that, Mr. Jackson," she ordered.

"No," Daniel groaned, clutching the edge of the sheet when she tried to pull it down. "I think...I'm going to be sick."

Jack squinted at his cowering linguist in consternation. "'s wrong with him?"

"How do you feel, Colonel?" Fraiser said, giving up on the sheets and snaking two fingers in to take Daniel's pulse from his wrist instead.

"Like I've got a hangover from hell," he said, looking nervously at the general and wondering why and how he'd gotten wasted and ended up in the infirmary on base, and how Daniel had gotten wasted with him. And then--"Hey, wait, Carter hit me! Why did you hit me?"

Carter glanced at Teal'c. "Sorry, sir."

"Well, as far as we can tell, Daniel got a much bigger dose than you," Fraiser said. "But he didn't get the knock to the head to go with it, so I think you might be about even."

"Major Carter has nothing to apologize for, Colonel," Hammond said.

"Ah, General--sir--" Jack said, holding up a hand. "Not so loud."

Daniel rustled his sheet feebly. "Yes. Please."

"Oh, don't be a baby," Jack said. "Carter _hit_ me." Then he forced his brain to think. "Wait--dose? Of what?"

"There was a drug stored within Ishtar's sarcophagus," Teal'c said.

"Ishtar's love was said to be dangerous even to her lovers," Daniel mumbled. "Told you."

"That's not 'love,'" Jack said incredulously, then winced, closing his eyes.

"She said 'beloved' when she came out," Daniel said.

"Hathor did that with her men, too," Carter put in helpfully.

"They'll be fine, General," Fraiser said. "We know from experience with Hathor that this wears off in a few hours with no long-term side effects."

"Sir," Carter said, looking at Jack, "we think the sarcophagus _was_ rigged with a trap, in a way, and not just with that mist. I didn't have time to take a good look, but I saw something that could have been a transmitter of some sort."

"Uh-huh," Jack said through the pounding in his temples and wondering why she was trying to tell him technical stuff _now_ , of all times.

"We very nearly met resistance as we attempted to escape through the Stargate," Teal'c said. "Someone was attempting to dial into P30-255 even as we dialed the SGC. It is possible that Ishtar planned for her armies to return to her once someone opened the sarcophagus."

"We just redialed," Hammond added. "There are Jaffa at the 'gate wearing Ra's tattoo and tracks suggesting that there are a lot more elsewhere on the planet."

"It seems we have deprived them of their goddess and leader," Teal'c said, smugly happy.

"Yay," Jack said halfheartedly.

"What about the tablets?" Daniel said, pulling the sheet down far enough to open one eye. "We loaded them onto the FRED."

"Yes, Daniel, I got your tablets before the Jaffa got there," Carter said. "They're still in decontamination right now, but I'll have them sent to your office."

"Okay," Daniel said. "Then can people please go away? With due respect and everything."

"Please do," Jack agreed. "Sir."

Hammond chuckled and said, "All right, gentlemen. Consider yourselves lucky: your team's the only one in which half the members wouldn't be affected by the drug."

Jack decided he'd feel lucky when his head didn't feel like it was going to implode. "If you say so, sir," he said doubtfully.

"Let's let them sleep this off," Fraiser suggested. "Colonel O'Neill, Daniel, I'm going to give you a mild sedative to help you along."

Jack waited patiently for the patter of boots and the clicking of heels away from the bed to tell them that everyone was gone.

He finally dared to open his eyes again--the lights had been dimmed, thank god, and the throbbing in his skull was dimming, too--and found that Daniel had decided on the same and was staring blearily at him.

"We killed Ishtar," Daniel said quietly.

"Yeah," Jack said. "And without major injuries."

"Ishtar was dead in less than a minute, and Apophis has survived the destruction of entire motherships and fleets and...and moons."

"Well, most of them don't lock themselves in sarcophagi," Jack pointed out. "And we still got sprayed, anyway, which would've been bad if we hadn't had Carter and Teal'c." The general was right, he realized--any other team would probably have been lost completely to Ishtar. There were only so many mixed-gender exploration teams--both of the other two on the current rotation had one woman out of four or five members, while SG-1 had had a woman and a Jaffa dealing with one drugged man and a civilian teen. They _were_ lucky, Jack allowed.

"I wonder why Ishtar was in there," Daniel mused. "You don't think someone put her in?"

Jack wondered if Daniel ever stopped thinking, decided not, and said, "She wasn't locked in. She might've put herself in there on purpose."

Daniel rubbed his eyes. "But why?"

"She worked for Ra, right?" Jack said, yawning. "Ra gets killed, she gets a few...what, some stray Jaffa?"

"And maybe some desert or defect to another army...obviously, she didn't even have enough to keep guards around."

"Yep. And then Ra's brother rolls into town with Sokar's army and whomever else he's taken over, because Apophis has taken over a lot of armies lately..."

"So she was alone for some reason and hiding from more powerful Goa'ulds?" Daniel said. "I guess it's possible. Probably figured if it was a Goa'uld who came, she'd be able to get into his or her service, like she did with Ra."

"Yeah," Jack said. "Could be."

After a moment, he heard, "Do you think we could have saved her? I didn't have my _zat'nik'tel_ , but Teal'c had one."

"The host? I didn't think of that."

There was a pause. "Neither did I," Daniel said quietly.

Jack looked over to see Daniel's staring up at the ceiling. "I think it would have seemed like a good idea until we found out about the drug and ended up with a zatted Goa'uld and two doped-up and armed men to take care of all at once," he pointed out. "Then the sarcophagus--a sudden withdrawal from a bad addiction can kill someone, you do know that?"

"I know."

"Well, Ishtar was in that box constantly for...months, years, we don't know how long she was in there. And if she was really old, she wouldn't've survived long without the symbiote keeping her alive anyway."

Daniel was silent for a while. "But we should have considered it, at least. Capturing her alive. Maybe the Tok'ra could have helped her, even with the sarcophagus withdrawal."

"It wasn't worth the risk," Jack said, "and it happened too fast, anyway."

"A year ago, I would have thought about it," Daniel said.

Which seemed a little foolish--Daniel had had about ten seconds before the Goa'uld had started to come out. Even physically, they probably _couldn't_ have saved her, and that was that. It wasn't something they could afford to take minutes wondering about every time. Daniel hadn't wasted time wondering on the planet, though, which was what counted.

"You helped keep all of us alive by shooting at her," Jack said. "I'll bet she wasted a couple of seconds being confused by the bullets. A zat would've been more familiar and snapped her into immediate action, and any hesitation from us might've gotten us killed. All right?"

"Maybe you're right," Daniel said, sounding only partially convinced.

"I'm always right."

A few minutes later, Jack heard Daniel yawn. "Are you tired?" Daniel said.

Jack considered. It took a long time to consider.

"Jack?"

"Huh?" he said.

"Me, too."

"Yeah," Jack agreed. "Daniel. You did good."

"Yeah," Daniel said. He turned to face the other way. "I know."

XXXXX

**_23 January 2001; Indoor Shooting Range, SGC; 1300 hrs_ **

"I don't know if I feel comfortable with this," Daniel said.

Jack snorted. "Neither do I, but we're not going to '888 without it. Come on, load up again." Daniel glanced to either side at Teal'c and Carter's lanes, then obeyed. Even Teal'c, who still preferred his staff weapon most of the time, was going in with a gun this time. "We've practiced with MP5s."

"Yeah," Daniel said, slotting the magazine into his gun and pushing it into place. "Done."

"Again," Jack said. While he repeated the process, he continued, "The P90 will give you a little more range than what you got with an MP5, but what we're most interested in is the armor-piercing rounds. You'll get higher bullet velocity with these, higher rate of fire, and less recoil than with the MP5's rounds. Now, obviously, that's still more recoil than you're used to with an M9, but you've got your shoulder to brace it against, too, so you've got to make sure you're steady and balanced."

"Right."

"Are you on single-shot?" Jack asked.

"I dunno," Daniel said. "I didn't, uh..."

Yeah. This was going to be interesting. There was a reason why civilians weren't usually supposed to carry anything more than a sidearm. Then again, civilians didn't usually do what SGC field personnel did, either.

"Here it is," Daniel added, his fingers on the dial under the trigger. "Um, it's on safety now, but I don't know which position is single-shot."

Jack sighed. "Okay," he said slowly. "Then _look_ at it. _While_ it's on safety."

Daniel looked nervously at him, then tilted his head cautiously to bring it level to the trigger.

Frustrated, Jack clapped a restraining hand on the gun. "For cryin' out loud! What is it today?"

Daniel flinched. " _Naturu_ ," he muttered, taking a breath and looking quickly at the dial.

"You've never been this jumpy around guns before," Jack said, exasperated, signaling Carter and Teal'c to lower their aim for a moment. "Come on, I've seen you do target practice with submachine guns, and there's no way this is about MP5s versus P90s. What the hell's wrong?"

"Well," Daniel said, twisting the dial firmly to single-shot, "usually I'm not distracted by the image of wounding or killing a friend with armor-piercing rounds from an automatic weapon."

Jack forced himself to lower his voice. "You're _not_ going to shoot one of us. No one's even remotely in your way, and you're better than--"

"I'm talking about Chaka!"

"No one here wants to shoot your friend," Jack said, though he wasn't quite that certain of the sentiment. "But you're going to learn how to defend yourself against an Unas, or you're not going to '888 at all."

Daniel nodded and carefully considered the floor. "Okay," he finally said, raising his gun and setting it against his shoulder.

"Feet," Jack said. Daniel widened his stance automatically and stilled, staring at the target. His body knew how to stand and hold a gun even if his brain didn't want to, and given the places Daniel's brain went sometimes, Jack was okay with that. It was possible to think too much sometimes. "All right--ready!" Carter and Teal'c raised their guns again. "Single shots. Fire!"

...x...

**_29 January 2001; Briefing Room, SGC; 1600 hrs_ **

"We know for certain that your P90s are able to penetrate the skin of an Unas at short range," Jack said, looking around the table at his team and the newly formed SG-11. "We also know that not all of our bullets _did_ penetrate, and, even bleeding from about ten bullet wounds to the chest, a strong male Unas at full health was still alive enough to keep fighting."

"If you shoot," Carter added, "and the Unas doesn't stop coming at you, try to put distance between it and yourself, or you might not get a chance to try again. They're faster than we are, but you have a better chance if you don't stand around and wait for them to bowl you over."

"Do we know anything about their vulnerable points, sir?" asked Captain Lorne, second-in-command on the new team.

"Not a whole lot," Jack said. "So aim for whatever you can hit--like I said, the chest is armored but not invulnerable. The neck is apparently soft enough for Goa'uld penetration, but it's a smaller target, too, and a target that the Unas tend to guard. If nothing else, with enough injuries, an Unas _will_ die eventually."

"But don't shoot unless you have to," Daniel said.

"Daniel," Jack said, "if an Unas tries to harm anyone, we _will_ defend ourselves."

"And what happens when you kill one member of the clan?" Daniel said. "Kill one Unas and have fifteen more running after you?"

"So if one of those things is about to kill one of my men, I should stand by and do nothing to avoid aggravating them?" Edwards said.

"We don't anticipate that'll happen, Colonel," Carter said.

"And you could ask them not to kill you," Daniel added. "They're not amoral beasts."

Edwards looked like he wanted to snap something back but instead turned uncertainly to Jack. "You think he's joking," Jack said. "He's not joking."

"Daniel will provide a list of words and phrases he was able to learn during his...stay with the Unas," Carter said. "We recommend you read his report carefully and memorize how to say 'don't kill,' if nothing else."

"For the purposes of Unas relations," Jack said, "Daniel will, obviously, take point. If he says something that sounds stupid, remember that he survived a ritual that was supposed to end with him as dinner and ended instead with his being invited back as a guest."

"Uh-huh," Edwards said, not looking convinced of the wisdom of this. Jack suspected that only the knowledge that SG-11 had never seen _anything_ off-world before and had no real idea what to expect was keeping them from protesting more.

"I'll call it off if anything gets out of hand," Jack said. He gave Daniel a stern look and received annoyed raised eyebrows in return. "But until then, take his advice."

Nodding, Daniel said, "Colonel Edwards, if we can convince Chaka not to hurt us, he's the clan's leader now and will help protect us from the others. Perhaps more importantly, he might be willing to help protect us from the Goa'uld on their planet."

"And that brings us to the next part of this briefing," Jack said, "because, as big and scary as the Unas are, what we're _really_ worried about on P3X-888 is the Goa'uld."

"As you've probably been told by now," Carter said for SG-11's benefit, "most of the Goa'uld we've met carry naquadah as part of their physiology. This allows them to use certain types of naquadah-based technology, but it also allows people with naquadah in their _own_ bodies to sense their presence. Normally, this means that Teal'c or I or anyone with an artificial naquadah detector can detect a Goa'uld in the vicinity. People from naquadah-rich planets--like Daniel--can be trained to recognize it if they get very close. Unfortunately, the Goa'uld symbiotes on P3X-888 are completely devoid of naquadah as far as we can tell."

"So how do we detect them, ma'am?" Lieutenant Devon asked.

"You don't," Carter said, "not without an MRI or an ultrasound. They're unlikely to be easily visible by eye until they're close enough to strike, since the Unas are known to kill them on sight. The good thing is that symbiotes can't survive out of water without a host. Stay away from the water, and you should be safe."

"From the symbiotes," Jack clarified. "Safe...from the _symbiotes_."

"The problem," Daniel continued, "is that one of the other reasons for going to P3X-888 is to examine the bodies of water in order to find out what it is that allows a symbiote to survive outside a host or Jaffa. Anyone within a few paces from the water's edge is in danger of being taken by a Goa'uld, which poses a threat to that person, obviously, and to everyone else."

"A few paces?" Lorne said, looking like he was trying to convert that into more conventional measurement. "So they can crawl out that far?"

"They can leap that far, Captain Lorne," Teal'c corrected. "They will aim for your neck."

"Luckily," Carter said, "a Jaffa carrying a symbiote can't be taken as a host, so we'll have one person who will always be himself. If at any time Teal'c becomes suspicious, command of the mission will be turned over to him immediately. At that point, anyone who refuses to comply with his orders, including Colonel O'Neill, will be assumed to be compromised."

"Also," Daniel added, holding up a finger, "the Unas are proficient at, uh...catching and killing symbiotes. If we can establish successful contact with Chaka's clan first and make it clear that we're working with them against the Goa'uld, I believe they'd be willing to help us, either by providing information about the Goa'uld or by guarding us at the water."

"Even _if_ we end up being able to count on that," Jack said, "anyone who needs to approach the water to refill a canteen or collect a sample will be accompanied by at least one other person, who will stand on guard from out of range with a zat gun. If someone gets Goa'ulded, he'll be zatted and restrained without hesitation, and the mission is over. From there, we head straight to Cimmeria and then call base for further instruction. Anyone who doesn't know the address for Cimmeria, memorize it today. That's one of the addresses you never want to forget."

"When someone is taken by a Goa'uld, there's no way to tell?" Edwards said.

"If their eyes glow or their voice changes, you'll know," Jack said. "When we take you to the Alpha Site tomorrow, we'll show you what the voice change sounds like with some of our artificial voice-modifier doohickeys."

"Or you can talk to Lantash upstairs and see how it sounds," Carter added.

"But the fact is, they can hide all that and act like normal humans," Jack said. "They gain all the memories and knowledge of the host as soon as they blend. Sometimes there are differences in behavior that can clue you in, but sometimes...they can act so similar that they fool even their own teammates."

"The Goa'uld on '888 are more primitive," Daniel said, flipping to a new page in his briefing notes. "We're not sure how adept they are at imitating a host. SG-1 and -2 observed two apparently conflicting examples from our own men, but there wasn't enough evidence to support any hypothesis fully." One of the new lieutenants looked a little creeped out by the notion of seeing their own dead men as evidence. Daniel didn't react and went on, "Another hope for long-term studies on '888 is that we'll better understand the development of the Goa'uld mind, though that would need long-term studies with more experts, which we can't commit to yet."

"If we capture some live symbiotes, we can experiment on them here," Lorne suggested.

Daniel exchanged a glance with Carter. "We're...still debating that possibility," he said.

"We're discussing the ethical implications with Dr. Fraiser and General Hammond," Carter clarified. "But yes, we're considering that option."

Edwards, looked at the two of them askance. "People do experiments on rats and monkeys, and you're worried about experimenting on parasitical snakes who want to _kill_ us?"

"Like we said," Daniel said, "that option hasn't been taken off the table yet."

"And the concern, Colonel," Carter said, "is the ethics of conducting experiments--of _torturing_ enemy prisoners whom we know to be sentient and highly intelligent."

"On the other hand..." Daniel said. "Teal'c and other rebel Jaffa might not have easy access to larval Goa'uld in the future, right? If we can have our own...planet full of Goa'uld living in the water, we'd never run out."

Carter seemed interested. "That's an idea, but we'll have to figure out all safety precautions for that before we go fishing for symbiotes. You said they don't seem to swim into the shallows unless they think there's a potential host there, which means they're mature."

Daniel's expression said his suggestion had been a trap as much as an actual suggestion. "How is catching and enslaving larval Goa'uld to be killed later when they're adults any better than experimenting on them?"

"It would save Jaffa lives and decrease Jaffa dependence on the System Lords," Teal'c said.

"You can't say that symbiotes are animals with no rights for one purpose and are...are prisoners of war for other purposes," Daniel said. "Experimentation could save just as many lives--"

"It's still in discussion," Carter cut him off. "It's not just up to the two of us, and it won't be decided at this table. We'll know more soon."

"Anything else?" Jack said, looking around the table. "Carter, Teal'c, Daniel?"

"Nothing," Teal'c said.

Daniel looked at Carter, then tilted his head in concession. "No, sir," she answered for them both.

"Colonel Edwards?" Jack said.

Edwards shook his head. "We've got it."

"Then get ready. We leave for your training session at the Alpha Site at 0700 tomorrow," Jack said, "and we'll go to '888 once we're done there."

XXXXX

**_30 January 2001; Alpha Site, P3X-984; 0900 hrs_ **

"...and this," Sam said with the voice distorter on, "is what a Goa'uld might sound like." She switched it off and put it back down on the table. "We believe the symbiote's position in the host causes it to interfere with the host's vocal apparatus in a way that alters the normal timing of human speech. As we said before, however, they're able to speak normally if they make the effort to do so. The Tok'ra, for example, use that as a way to demarcate the difference between host and symbiote."

"So it's not a physical thing that makes it happen with the Tok'ra?" Lieutenant Stemler asked.

"Well, it's still physical, but they can control it if they choose," she answered. "The switching is a...an artificial method they developed to help the host and symbiote keep their separate identities straight after the blending, and now it's become a custom."

SG-11 was listening intently to Sam's lectures, in between looking around the Alpha Site. Jack and Teal'c were off somewhere else with SG-13. Daniel had never heard Sam talk about the equipment here before, so he was happy to follow along with the tour.

"As an engineering and research support team," she continued, moving on to the next building, "this is something SG-11 will become very familiar with: a naquadah reactor. Not only is this one of the most powerful portable tools when we need energy, but it's also powerful as a weapon. Lieutenants Devon and Stemler, I understand Sergeant Siler explained to you how to create an explosive from one of these?"

"Yes, ma'am," Devon said.

She nodded. "Obviously, it also means you need to take extra care whenever you're using a reactor. If this one went critical, it could take out the entire Alpha Site and all of our personnel."

As they continued past and into the main control center, Daniel dropped back to tighten his shoelaces and was yanked away by a familiar hand before he could enter behind SG-11.

"What are you doing?" Daniel hissed, shaking Jack's hand off his arm.

"Got an idea," Jack whispered. "Come with me."

He found himself back at the voice modulators. "Jack, I'm actually in training this time," Daniel pointed out. "I'm not supposed to jump out and scare people; that's _your_ job."

"Then think of this as training in following my orders," Jack advised, clipping one of the modulators to collar of his shirt and motioning for Daniel to do the same. "I want to see how the new team reacts to the sound of a Goa'uld voice. Here's the scenario: one of us is Goa'uld and the other is Tok'ra, but they don't know which one."

Daniel paused in the midst of putting his on. "Uh, Jack," he said, "if they do the smart thing, both of us are going to get shot."

Jack gave him a bright smile. "Full marks, Mr. Jackson. Don't worry--Alpha Site training procedures are in effect the entire time we're here. They're only carrying _intars_."

"Those still hurt," Daniel grumbled as he picked up an _intar_. Sam and SG-11 were at the other side of the Site by now. Jack picked up another _intar_ , unconcerned.

"Dixon's team is giving us some cover," Jack said. "Wait until Carter takes them into a building and watch for them just outside. When they come out, I'm going to jump you, and we'll be at a standoff--weapons ready, voice modulators on. Both of us claim to be Tok'ra, see what they do. If they screw up, you have permission to shoot as many of them as possible. Got it?"

"So I'm the Goa'uld," Daniel clarified, because hopefully, a Tok'ra wouldn't shoot SG personnel.

"Unless they shoot you and not me, in which case _I'm_ the Goa'uld," Jack said. "You should hope they _don't_ shoot you--let you get in some target practice."

"One day," Daniel said, watching Jack tap the voice modulator as if to make sure it worked, "I'd like to be involved in a training scenario with you guys that doesn't involve my being shot, or electrocuted, or--"

"Let's go," Jack interrupted gleefully, and took off into the nearest bushes.

With a sigh, Daniel joined Cameron Balinsky where he was talking to Colonel Dixon. "Hi," Daniel said. "I'm supposed to stand here so I don't look suspicious." He glanced at Sam's group again, where it looked like she was explaining one of the security lockdown protocols. "Am I interrupting?"

"Nah," Dixon said, then reached out and roughly grabbed Daniel's jacket.

"Whoa, sir, uh...what--" Dixon flicked the switch to turn on his voice modulator. "Oh, right," Daniel said, surprising himself with his own distorted voice. "Thanks."

"Go get 'em, kid," Dixon said, pushing him in the right direction as soon as the last member of SG-11 disappeared inside another building.

Daniel made his way to the building and found a half-built fence where he could crouch and not be too obviously in sight. He could hear Sam's voice inside explaining the operations of some of their main computers. A glance across, past the entrance to the building, showed Jack with crouched in the same position.

_'Ready?'_ Jack mouthed at him.

_'Guess so,'_ Daniel mouthed back.

_'What?'_ Jack answered.

_'Never mind,'_ Daniel said.

_'What?'_ Jack repeated, furrowing his brows.

Daniel rolled his eyes. Jack raised his eyebrows. Daniel shrugged in return and adjusted his grip on his _intar_ instead of trying to answer. Jack shrugged back and adjusted the settings on his gun.

The sound of footsteps inside made Daniel shrink back behind fence post.

"...needs two officers to set," Sam was saying as she walked out. Colonel Edwards followed closely behind. Daniel held still and let the others pass his position--

Dry grass crunched behind him. " _Goa'uld, kree!_ " Teal'c's voice yelled.

Daniel whirled around to see an _intar_ staff weapon pointed at him. He raised his own _intar_ and fired before he could be hit and barely registered Teal'c falling to the ground as something heavy hit him from behind, knocking him down. He twisted sharply onto his back, raising his gun--

Jack was standing over him, _intar_ aimed at Daniel while Daniel held his own _intar_ steady on Jack. "Drop your weapon!" Jack demanded, his voice modulator active.

Glancing past him, Daniel could see Sam and SG-11 all aiming _intars_ at the two of them. "Shoot him!" Daniel yelled, looking at Colonel Edwards. "He's a Goa'uld!"

"I'm Tok'ra!" Jack insisted. "Daniel's become a Goa'uld."

"Colonel Edwards, your orders?" Sam asked.

" _I'm_ the Tok'ra," Daniel protested.

"He shot Teal'c," Jack called. "He's gotta be the Goa'uld."

_Dammit, Jack_ , Daniel thought. It was just like the man to omit Teal'c's involvement in this game while explaining the scenario.

"That was self-defense," Daniel improvised. "Teal'c...must have sensed a symbiote and attacked before he realized who I was. But Colonel O'Neill would never agree to be a Tok'ra! Yes? He must be a Goa'uld!"

Someone fired. Jack jerked and tumbled to the ground.

"What the hell was that!" Edwards barked, starting to aim his gun at Daniel.

Daniel rolled away and managed a shot at Edwards. He hit Sam and Lieutenant Stemler, too, and clipped Lieutenant Devon's shoulder, before he turned to see the barrel of someone's gun--

...x...

"Ow," Daniel said when he woke. Jack was facing SG-11, his back to Daniel.

"Turn that thing off," Jack said, turning to him as Sam grimaced and picked herself up, too.

Daniel switched his voice modulator off. "Thanks for telling me about Teal'c."

"Part of the setup. You're being tested, too. The point is," Jack said, turning back to SG-11, "no one knew who was the Goa'uld and who was the Tok'ra. But Lieutenant Stemler shot _me_. Right, Lieutenant?"

"Yes, sir," Stemler said unhappily.

"Why'd you shoot me?"

Stemler glanced at Edwards. "Your...distaste for the Tok'ra is well known, sir," he said. "I thought it was unlikely that you could be a Tok'ra, since they only take willing hosts. Jackson's story seemed to make more sense."

Jack turned around and glared at Daniel. "That's not my fault," Daniel said.

"Don't start," Jack warned him. "You had a clear shot--you only got Carter because she had orders not to shoot, and you left yourself wide open for someone to take you out. Was there something wrong with the fence _three feet_ away from you that you couldn't take cover there?"

Daniel gulped and looked to his left at the fence three feet away from him. "No, sir."

Jack glared harder. "First priority in combat for you is...?"

"Find cover," Daniel finished sheepishly.

"Colonel O'Neill could have been implanted with a Tok'ra symbiote out of necessity," Sam said. "If, for example, he'd been injured too badly and a symbiote could cure him."

"Over my dead body," Jack muttered. Sam gave him a look. "Unless," he amended for the purposes of the exercise, "it would actually be over my dead body, in which case...it might be possible. To prevent the dead body."

"The point is, you can't just make that assumption," Sam finished. "Shooting Colonel O'Neill was the right move. The problem is what you did after that."

"How sure were you of the identity of the Goa'uld, Lieutenant Stemler?" Teal'c said.

Stemler swallowed. "Not very, sir."

"Colonel Edwards?" Teal'c said.

"If I'd been sure," Edwards said, "I wouldn't've waited."

"For what, exactly, were you waiting?" Jack said. "For one of your men to shoot the Tok'ra and let the Goa'uld start killing people? Because my seventeen-year-old translator took out most of your team. If he'd actually been a Goa'uld, he probably would've gotten the rest, maybe even before the captain here had been able to put him down. And an armed Goa'uld loose on the Alpha Site with a Tok'ra ally dead--anyone else have a problem with that?"

Daniel wrinkled his nose, pulling off his voice modulator and not sure whether to be unhappy that everyone was being yelled at or insulted that being seventeen and a translator was supposed to make him a bad shot. Sam held up her hand, and he tossed the device to her.

"Captain Lorne," Jack said. "Why did you shoot Daniel?"

Lorne cleared his throat. "It was clear by then that he was an enemy, sir."

Jack nodded. "So you only start shooting when the rest of your team's dead. Who can tell me what you should've been doing instead of waiting around or shooting friends?"

"Incapacitate them both," Edwards said. "Then contact the Tok'ra and find out who's lying."

"Thank you!" Jack said. Turning again, he added unexpectedly, "Teal'c, _what_ the _hell_ happened to you?"

"I expected Daniel Jackson to hesitate upon seeing me," Teal'c said. "He has never been trained to oppose me in such circumstances."

"Well, next time," Jack snapped, "shoot him faster."

Daniel decided to keep his mouth shut. Jack was still holding his _intar_.

"You're dismissed," Jack said. "Everyone be less stupid next time."

...x...

**_10 February 2001; Alpha Site, P3X-984; 1400 hrs_ **

"SG-13 is guarding the 'gate, and there's nothing but open space in front of them," Edwards said quietly. "We need a distraction if we're gonna get past them."

"Set the naquadah reactor to explode," Daniel suggested.

"Hell of a distraction," Lorne said, "'cept being _dead_ is an obstacle to completing a mission."

"There's an alarm, right, when the reactor gets close to overload?" Daniel said. "SG-13 will think it's part of the test, and SG-1 will have to go to fix it and see who tampered because they'll think it's a real alarm."

"And then we'll all blow up," Lieutenant Devon said.

"Are you crazy, Jackson?" Lorne hissed.

"Sam won't let it blow up," Daniel said. "I wouldn't have suggested it if I thought there was any risk of that. It's without question what we'd do on a real Goa'uld world."

"No," Edwards said, cutting off their discussion. "I don't care how much confidence you have in Major Carter; we are not putting the lives of everyone on this base in danger."

"On the other hand," Stemler said, "we could rig the alarm to go off without sabotaging the reactor. The internal mechanism's just a thermal sensor--as long as there's enough heat on it..."

"How much heat?" Lorne said, rooting through their supplies. He extracted an MRE.

Devon raised his eyebrows. "That would probably do it if I tweak the sensor's settings," he said.

"Do we want heat near a reactor?" Edwards said.

"This can't generate enough heat to detonate the core, sir," Devon said, pulling out the flameless heater. "But I should be able to rig it so the sensor will go off when I set this to heat--I can even get it to cut non-essential power at the same time to create more chaos."

"Do it," Edwards said. "Lorne, go with him. Jackson, get close to the 'gate. When the alarm goes off, you're going to run right into them and make a scene, Lorne will double back to make more noise, Stemler and I'll take care of SG-13, and Jackson runs through the 'gate with our artifact. We'll join you once it's clear."

Stemler slapped the fake amulet into Daniel's hand. "Go freak out," the man said.

"Fre--" Daniel sighed as the others took off in their respective directions. "Yes, sir," he said and left their setup to prepare to do his part.

He could just barely hear Edwards and Stemler behind him as they moved into position, too. A soft click came over his radio, and he looked down at his watch. The reactor was set.

He crept closer, closer, slowly, until Dixon's men were in view but just out of earshot, standing in front of the Stargate and guarding the open space in front of it. Daniel stopped there--he wasn't good enough to be as quiet as he'd need to be on grassy land to keep them from noticing if he went any further.

The alarms blared. The lights around the Alpha Site flickered and died.

As SG-13 turned in alarm toward the building where the reactor was housed and hurriedly turned on their flashlights, and Daniel stood suddenly, drawing the attention of their guns. "Ah--wait, wait!" he said frantically, looking over his shoulder. "What's going on?"

"Daniel?" Cameron said, lowering his gun. "Was that you guys?"

"Of course not! Oh, gods, is that the security system? But I thought this planet's location was supposed to be secret," Daniel said, injecting as much panic into his voice as he could.

"No, that...that's the naquadah reactor's alarm," Captain Martin said.

"Naquadah reactor?" Daniel yelled. " _What?_ "

"Colonel Dixon?" the captain said.

Making his way forward, Daniel called, "Sam! _Sam!_ Who--where's--"

The sound of someone crashing through the underbrush announced Lorne's arrival. "Jackson, where's Devon?" Lorne yelled.

"I don't know!" Daniel yelled back, inching toward their target 'Stargate' in the confusion.

"Martin, let's go," Dixon said, and he and the SG-13 engineer ran toward the reactor.

"Shit," Lorne said. He reached up to his radio. "Devon, where are you?"

_"The reactor's overloading, sir!"_ Devon answered through the radio. _"I'm going to see if I can help!"_

_"This is Edwards,"_ Edwards added. _"Abort scenario. I repeat, now!"_

Daniel dropped to the ground and heard the sound of _intar_ fire over his head. As Cameron fell, he crawled quickly toward the 'gate SG-13 was guarding and stepped through to mark their victory.

"I'm through!" he announced, turning around to see Cameron and Captain Whall of SG-13 on the ground with Edwards, Stemler, and Lorne holding their guns in their hands. "The amulet has been retrieved and taken to...well, we win, anyway."

Just then, Devon emerged from the other side. "Whew," he said. "Thought they were going to find me. Are we done?"

The alarm stopped. All available lights turned back on.

Jack was stomping toward them. Teal'c and Sam were close behind, the latter holding the ration heater. Dixon was on his way back, too, and he was angry.

"Uh-oh," Daniel said. SG-11 straightened and stood at attention.

"Do you know how much panic you just caused throughout the entire Alpha Site?" Jack barked.

"Jack--" Daniel started.

"And the worst part," Jack continued, turning to him, "was that we actually believed _some_ of you might be stupid enough to set the reactor to take out the _entire Alpha Site_ , Daniel!"

Defensive and chagrinned at once--because that _had_ been his first idea--Daniel tried to think of a way to answer that without sounding too insubordinate in front of the other teams. "Colonel Edwards wouldn't have allowed a plan that stupid to be implemented," he said.

"So that _was_ the original plan," Jack said.

"Due respect, Colonel," Edwards said, "we discussed what we would've done if we'd actually been in an enemy stronghold, but we _didn't_ set the reactor to do anything but make noise."

Jack stared at them a little longer, then, apparently finding nothing else to yell at them about, turned to SG-13. "And that brings us to you," he said. "You're more experienced than SG-11, and you allowed yourselves to be distracted. Maybe the reactor was going to blow--doesn't matter! You _shoot_ the enemy soldier sneaking up on you _before_ you go fix it, no matter how old or how upset he seems to be--it might be a _trap!_ "

"Yes, sir," Dixon said.

"Tomorrow," Jack said, "Daniel's joining SG-13. See if having the extra man advantage helps you as much as it helped SG-11. Dismissed!"

...x...

**_15 February 2001; Alpha Site, P3X-984; 1000 hrs_ **

"No games today," Jack declared at sunrise one morning when SG-11, SG-13, and Daniel all assembled and waited for the day's assignments. "Conditioning this morning, drills this afternoon. Good thing we got rain last three days--river's nice and high. We're gonna take a little mud run, and we'll cut through the river, so you'll get a nice long swim, too."

Daniel didn't think he'd shown anything outwardly, because he knew that showing nerves in situations like this was the worst way to try to earn respect from a team that still wasn't sure what to think of him. Jack was looking directly as him as he mentioned the river, though, so he raised his chin and said, "Yes, sir," with everyone else and didn't say another word.

He'd practiced with Jack, of course, between '888 and now. He was a better swimmer than he had been, now that he understood all too well why it was so critical. He'd just never done it at a river like this, the way he'd done with Chaka...

They ran and ran, in a long line that put several paces between each person, and by the time they'd reached the river, Daniel was tired enough to be a little scared, too, because this was what had happened before, wasn't it? He'd been tired from running and maybe a little concussed and bound, and he'd almost drowned--

"Go!" Jack barked, and Daniel realized he was standing at the riverbank, holding his hands in front of him as if they were tied together at the wrist. Jack's eyes met his briefly and then flicked past him, and he glanced over his shoulder to see the half of SG-13 not yet in the water, along with Teal'c, who was watching them from the rear.

Jack was watching from the front of the line, Sam was at the bank on the other side, and Teal'c was behind. Taking a breath, Daniel separated his arms from their awkward, unconscious position and jumped.

Daniel still wasn't the fastest swimmer, but the point was that he reached the other side without drowning or swallowing water or even lagging behind, and when he touched the other bank with his hand, he was breathing hard from the run and the swim...and that was it. He'd made it with the others, and he was fine.

Sam's hand reached down to him, and he grasped it to help pull himself out of the water and onto the shore. Teal'c emerged just behind him, and even Jack, running on at the head of the SG-11 and -13 pack, turned to check that he'd surfaced.

"Let's go!" Jack ordered, turning back around. Daniel pushed himself to his feet and followed.


	17. Personnel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: As usual, if conversation takes place in a situation where English is not the primary language, English is relegated to "italics" while the primary language is in unformatted text.

**_20 February 2001; P3X-888; 1100 hrs_ **

All in all, it was a relief to be away from the Alpha Site, until Daniel remembered that they only had a few days' break and that P3X-888 was next on their schedule.

He wanted to be here, of course. He'd pushed hard for it, and...and...

And that was where Robert had first shown him Casca. There was the path they'd trampled out on the way to fetch water so many times over three weeks, still visible in the areas where grass hadn't grown out to cover their tracks. The simple barriers they'd set out at the dig sites were still standing. And right here, on the ground by his feet, was the pen he must have dropped when he'd heard Loder fire, which meant that just beyond those trees was where the previous SG-11 had been buried.

"Daniel?"

He turned around to see Jack watching him while Edwards' team and the rest of SG-1 checked the area around what used to be their base camp. "What? Yes, I'm...just, uh...picking up some garbage." He picked up the pen and almost put it down on the table before he remembered the table wasn't there anymore, since SG-2 had cleaned things up.

"Sure?" Jack said.

Daniel nodded. "Um. The Unas must come out of their caves sometimes," he said, "if only for food. We can either stay and wait for an Unas to find us or go to the caves and look for Chaka ourselves."

"The other Unas aren't your friends," Jack said. "If someone besides Chaka comes along, they might not be so willing to deal. We should go find him."

_"O'Neill,"_ Teal'c's voice said through their radios, _"someone approaches."_

Daniel froze.

"Come on," Jack said, tagging him on the arm and heading toward the others. Daniel shook himself and followed, his hands moving to the gun clipped to his chest.

Teal'c and Sam were watching the woods while SG-11 spread out behind them. "I heard movement among the trees," Teal'c said.

"We haven't seen anything yet, sir," Sam added quietly. "But Colonel Edwards thought he heard something, too." Jack nodded and signaled for silence.

Daniel edged out from behind SG-1, who had formed a sort of barrier between him and the woods. Jack's fist shot up. Daniel stopped reflexively with everyone else, then took a breath and continued moving to the front. If the Unas came out, he wanted to see them before people started shooting at them.

A loud roaring sounded in the woods.

Before Daniel could think again, he took a step backward, the sound so familiar his heart started to race. He waited for another sound, another movement, another growl, but there was no warning, this time, before all of the Unas leapt out of the woods at once, four, five, eight, ten, too many to fight.

"Hold your fire!" Jack shouted.

" _Ka keka!"_ Daniel yelled, lowering his gun and stepping out past SG-1. " _Unas ka keka!_ "

The Unas weren't moving, but they held their aggressive stance, and the growls were coming from all around them now, the one that started low in the throat and Daniel was pretty sure was physiologically impossible for a human to replicate exactly, but one could get pretty close with a trill from the--

"Stop that; you're freaking me out," Jack hissed from behind him, and it was only then that Daniel realized he was doing it, too, and stopped.

Rational. He could do that this time.

Daniel unclipped his gun, held it away from himself, and set it deliberately on the ground, ignoring the warning hisses from around him. Keeping his arms low and his eyes down, he walked slowly in front of his team. "Chaka?" he called loudly.

The Unas around them stilled. And then a few of them moved closer. "Pull back," Jack said.

"Chaka!" Daniel repeated instead. Thinking back to what Chaka had said when Daniel had been brought before the alpha male last time, he called, " _Cho'ee'che!_ "

" _A benar!_ " a voice called from among the Unas. " _Cho'ee'che!_ "

"What does that mean?" Edwards said quietly.

"I have no idea," Daniel said, but he repeated, " _Cho'ee'che, Chaka!_ "

And then, a welcome voice. "Dan'el!"

"Oh, good," Daniel breathed, watching his friend approach. "That's him. Chaka! Jack, lower your weapon."

"No," Jack said, but he wasn't giving an order to shoot or retreat, either.

Chaka stopped in front of him. " _A benar!_ " Chaka repeated. The other Unas lowered their clubs or dropped down to all fours, backing slowly away.

"We need to lower our weapons, Jack," Daniel repeated, not turning around. "There's a...a reciprocity in their dealings. _Quid pro quo_. Look, your guns are still close at hand, and they're backing away."

There was a pause, and then, "Stand down," Jack said.

Daniel only realized when Chaka was standing directly in front of him that he was all but kneeling on the ground. "Daniel," he said, pointing to himself. Then, in the odd case the Chaka might have forgotten, he added, " _Wok tah?_ "

Chaka snorted. "Dan'el _ka wok tah_ ," he said. "Dan'el _ka nay_."

"I'm not his ritual sacrifice anymore," Daniel reported over his shoulder. "Which is...good. I don't know what, uh... _kel 'ka nay'?_ " he asked. "What is... _ka nay_?"

Tilting his head, Chaka bent slightly and reached a hand down to him instead of answering.

Daniel stared at it for a second, then grasped it and let himself be yanked roughly to a fully upright position. "Thank you, Chaka," he said, and then, remembering something else, he turned Chaka's hand over to find unbroken, hardened skin. "Hey, it's all healed now," he said.

" _Aka_ ," Chaka said.

"Yeah," Daniel said, letting go of Chaka's hand and reaching into his pocket to turn on his tape recorder, leaving it in his vest pocket to keep his hands free. "So... _'ka nay'_ and ' _aka_.'"

Chaka gestured at SG-1 and SG-11. "Dan'el _ka nay_ ," he repeated, then turned and swept his arm to include himself and all the Unas still there. " _Te Unas ka nay_."

"I think _te_ is a first person singular pronoun," Daniel said. " _Ka nay_ is a grouping of some sort." He gestured to himself and the SG personnel and said, "Human." He glanced at Teal'c but didn't mention Jaffa; simplicity seemed to be the way to go for now. "Human."

" _'Uman_?" Chaka repeated, looking over the two teams.

"Daniel _'uman ka nay_?" Daniel tried. " _Te 'uman ka nay?_ "

" _Ta 'uman ka nay_ ," Chaka confirmed. _"Te Unas ka nay_. _'Uman Unas ka nay_."

"Daniel," Jack said.

Smiling, Daniel said, "I think _ka nay_ is...clan, or group, or...friends. We just established that my clan is humans, his clan is the Unas, and we're all friends."

"Uh-huh," Jack said.

" _Unas ka keka 'uman,_ " Daniel said as firmly as he dared. " _Ka nan_."

Chaka looked over the SG teams and their weapons, perhaps more wary now that he knew they were capable of seriously injuring an Unas. " _'Uman ka keka Unas_ ," he countered.

"Daniel," Jack said.

"We said that no one's killing or eating each other," Daniel said. " _Cho'ee'che_?" he tried, hoping Chaka would tell them what that meant, too.

Chaka took a step toward him. Daniel leaned backward but held his place. Chaka's hands dropped onto his shoulders and started pushing downward firmly.

"Daniel," Jack said. The metallic sounds of weapons rising sounded.

" _Tal bet, tal bet_ ," Daniel said, forgetting what language he was speaking in his consternation.

"Lower your weapons," Teal'c said for him.

Daniel sank down under Chaka's insistence. " _Cho'ee'che_?" he said again as he knelt.

Chaka let go of him and swiped an abrupt hand at the other Unas. " _A benar!_ " he bellowed at them, then added a loud roar for good measure. The Unas looked around at each other, then slunk back into the woods. Then he turned back and held his palms facing downward. " _Cho'ee'che_ ," he said, then sat down, folding his legs under himself.

"Oh," Daniel said, relieved. "I guess he just wanted me to sit down."

An odd growling sound came from Chaka, but while it was familiar, it wasn't the usual one Daniel remembered. He wondered if roars could be parsed into individual phonemes or if they each had some specific lexical meaning--maybe different roars meant different things. Then Daniel remembered their adventures in eating across a fire in a cage and realized what _this_ particular sound meant. "Mmm," he said.

" _Rrrr_ ," Chaka answered.

"Daniel," Jack said.

"Stop saying my name, Jack," Daniel said, smiling at Chaka. "Does someone here have an energy bar? A chocolate one, preferably."

"You're kidding me, right?" Edwards said. "You're hungry right now?"

"Jack," Daniel said, "you listened to my recording. It's not for me. Chaka," he added while rustling sounds came from behind him, " _nan_?" Looking confused, Chaka leaned forward and sniffed him. "No, no. _Ka. Ka nan Daniel_."

To his relief, Chaka leaned back and chuckled. " _Ka nan Dan'el_ ," he scoffed.

"Jackson," someone said from behind. Daniel turned slowly and caught an energy bar as it was tossed to him.

"Mmm," Daniel said holding it up for Chaka to see, laughing when the Unas's eyes went wide. He peeled it open and handed it over. " _Nan?_ "

" _Naan_ ," Chaka said, taking it and ripping off a chunk.

"Huh," Jack said from behind. "So when you said he ate your chocolate, you were being literal."

Daniel frowned, then stopped frowning when Chaka looked up in concern. "Is there some metaphorical interpretation of that phrase I should be aware of?"

"Not really," Jack answered. "I just thought you'd lost it by the time you said that."

"And you wonder why half the SGC thinks I'm crazy," Daniel said, stuffing the ripped piece of plastic back into his pocket.

"Who says it's just half?" Jack said.

There was a crinkling sound, and then Chaka held the rest of the wrapper out to him. "You remembered!" Daniel said, taking it and putting it away. "See, they're not mindless animals; they know not to litter."

But then Chaka put down the half-eaten bar, leapt to his feet, and ran back into the woods.

"Whoa," Daniel said, holding his place since no one had said yet to stand. "Uh...Chaka?"

Chaka reappeared a second later holding--

"Hey, my forceps!" Daniel said, grinning as Chaka tossed them onto the ground near where he was sitting. Chaka sat back down in front of him and finished eating the energy bar as Daniel turned around to show the others. "Look! He had a bullet in his hand, and I took it out, but I must have dropped these in the cave and he gave them back."

Edwards looked slightly constipated as he said tensely, "That's very nice."

When Chaka tossed back the last of his snack, Daniel turned back around and clasped his hands in his lap. "So," he said. " _'Uman ko keka onak_. Um. _Unas, 'uman, ko keka onak_."

Chaka looked over the SG personnel. " _Unas 'uman a ka naya ko keka onak._ "

" _A ka naya_ ," Daniel repeated, thrilled with their progress. "Together, as a...as a group. Together, we'll kill the Goa'uld. See, Jack, see, see? We're, we...you see?"

When he turned around, Jack was looking around at the rest of the team as if for an opinion. "All right," Jack said. "I take it back--you're not nuts. How're we going to start cooperating with these fellas?"

"Uh, well..." Daniel said. "Chaka and I can communicate with about ten words, so...this could take a while. And by that, I mean...more than a few hours."

Never taking his eyes from Chaka, Jack said, "We'll stick around for another day. If we're convinced everything will go smoothly this time, we'll report the successful contact to the SGC. And then, Daniel, you'll probably come back here with SG-11 for a long-term study--with _daily_ check-ins--while SG-1 resumes normal duties."

Daniel nodded vigorously. "Okay. Sure. Thank you. Maybe I can ask him to show us the caves."

"Fine," Jack said.

Chaka tilted his head in question. Daniel thought.

"And?" Jack said.

"I have to figure out a few words," Daniel said. "Like...'where,' and 'cave.'"

XXXXX

**_28 February 2001; P3X-888; 0800 hrs_ **

Between reports, paperwork, and preparations for leaving base for yet another few weeks, it was almost a week between their first friendly contact with the Unas and Daniel and SG-11's return to start their studies. It wasn't long afterward that they got an invitation to the caves.

"I have to say," Captain Lorne said as he looked around the tunnel, "I'm impressed. This looks like something I was supposed to read in my high school biology book."

"The Goa'uld life cycle," Daniel said, panning his camera slowly over the artwork on the wall. "The Unas intimately understand their biology, their habitat, and the threat they pose. It's amazing."

"Now, _that_ wasn't something your friend wrote," Devon said, pointing. Daniel following his flashlight to _'DANIEL JACKSON WAS HERE,'_ faded but still legible.

"No," Daniel said shortly, and reached up to rub out the chalk.

"What, you don't want to record it for posterity?"

"No," he repeated. When he saw that he was getting odd, sideways looks again, he added calmly, "It's artificially introduced. It has no business being there, and our recordings should show what the Unas drew and wrote, not SGC graffiti."

"Not sure I'm comfortable trusting these Unas," Edwards said, looking warily at the Unas at the far end of the chamber.

Daniel glanced up. "Colonel," he pointed out, "if we've been picking up their language, there's no reason to think they might not be picking up some of ours, too."

"Is this paint?" Lieutenant Stemler asked, touching something on the wall near him. "Kind of weird that it's only right here. I wonder what it's made of."

"That's human blood," Daniel said. Stemler stopped touching it. "Don't worry; I don't think I have any blood-borne diseases," he added casually as he panned the camera over to that part of the wall, just to make the man look disturbed.

One of the men muttered, "This is weirding me out."

"Chaka promised us protection," Daniel said, because it was the first time they'd been allowed into the caves and Daniel and Chaka seemed to be the only ones really happy about it. "This part of the wall describes what I think is a coming of age ritual. You don't seem to do this where you're from, but plenty of cultures on Earth do or did in the past. Abydonian hunters have to pass a ritual similar to this--they bring back game to prove they can do it."

"They should learn about cacao around here," Lorne said. "Seem to like chocolate. Cacao harvesting for their rite of passage would be better for people's health."

"From the rest of their habits, they seem carnivorous, don't they?" Daniel said, reaching for his flashlight to get a better picture of the cave drawings. "I haven't seen signs of plant cultivation."

"Yeah," Edwards said. He had the air of someone thoroughly bored with all of this but determined to finish the mission. "Okay. Weren't we going to collect more water?"

Heavy footsteps from behind made him turn around to see Chaka standing there, holding a necklace of bone in his hand and pushing it toward Daniel. " _Onak_ ," Chaka said solemnly.

"Uh...thank you," Daniel said, not taking the necklace. "But, uh... _Aka_. And _ka. Onak...ka nok_."

But Chaka made the familiar gesture of scooping water with his hand and drinking. " _Onak ko keka_ ," he said, then dropped the bone necklace over Daniel's head.

Daniel tried not to wince as the bones clanked against each other around his neck. "See," he said. "You heard us talking, didn't you. You know our word for 'water.'"

"Wa-tar," Chaka tried, then made the drinking motion again. " _Nar_."

"Okay," Daniel said, making sure his recorder had caught that. " _Nar_. Water. _'Uman ko ka cha nar._ "

" _Chaka ko ka cha 'uman_ ," Chaka said.

" _Aka_ ," Daniel said, then put his camera away. "Sir, Chaka says he'll come with us to the water."

"Let's go," Edwards said briskly.

As they left the caves and made their way toward the river's edge, Lieutenant Devon said teasingly, "How come Jackson gets a neck protector?"

"Chaka likes my neck the best," Daniel said, pulling the necklace off to look at it. "Are these vertebrae? They look like it." He held it up close to Stemler's back to compare. "They're too big to be human."

Edwards scowled. "That makes me feel so much better."

"Well, sir," Devon pointed out, "at least it means we're being escorted by someone who can kill animals bigger than we are."

Chaka took the necklace out of his hand and put it back on properly. " _Ka_ ," he told Daniel sternly.

...x...

" _Onak_ ," Chaka warned again when they reached the all-too-familiar river. " _Onak_."

"Yeah, I got that last time," Daniel said, staring at the surface. "Could I have some of those sample vials, Colonel?"

With Chaka, Colonel Edwards, and the two lieutenants standing guard, Daniel and Captain Lorne together filled as many jars as Janet and the chemists could possibly want before refilling their canteens, too. "Now we know there are parasites in here and it's not just plain water," Lorne commented, "I'm not sure I really want to drink it anymore."

"They're not like tapeworms, sir," Stemler said. "They won't sneak into your canteen."

Daniel paused in packing everything carefully away. "They'd probably fit, though," he said. "Once, Major Carter captured a larval Goa'uld from Chulak by putting it in a thermos."

Lorne turned to give him an incredulous look. "A _thermos_?"

"They didn't have a better container," he explained. Leaning down to look more closely at the water, he said, "I wonder if we could--"

A hand grabbed the back of his jacket and yanked him away. " _Ka!_ " Chaka growled, and added a clear, "No."

"Right, I remember," Daniel said, eyes wide. "No heads near the water." He pulled loose and scrambled away from the edge to look an angry Chaka in the eye. "Could you..." He made a motion with his hand like someone catching a flying symbiote. "Uh... _wok tah_ ," Daniel said. "I want to capture it. _Ka keka onak; onak wok tah_."

Chaka narrowed his eyes. " _Ka_ ," he said again. Clearly, _onak_ weren't supposed to be _wok tah_.

"Maybe we can just come back sometime with fishing nets or something," Devon suggested. Daniel imagined telling Jack he had an idea for a fishing trip and decided that would be a bad idea.

Edwards lowered a gun that Daniel hadn't even seen him raise. "Well, we don't have one of those right now, so let's stick to collecting water and soil and not the wildlife."

...x...

**_10 March 2001; P3X-888; 2200 hrs_ **

"Hey, where are you going, Jackson?" Edwards said when Daniel began to walk away from the main camp toward the woods one evening, near the end of their stay.

"Just over there," Daniel said, pointing to the tree line.

"Buddy rule everywhere," Edwards reminded him.

"But..." Daniel sighed. "I'll stay in sight. Could you maybe watch and not...you know...listen? Please, sir."

Edwards stared suspiciously at him, then glanced in that direction. As if remembering what was out there, he finally nodded. "You stay in view at all times," he ordered.

"Yes, sir," Daniel said, then walked quickly toward the former SG-11's graves and sat near them with his back against a tree, making sure the men could see him. "For the record," he told the graves, "I'm not really trying to talk to you. I never know what to say at gravesides. I'm just going to take notes here."

It was odd being with the others, anyway, since he still thought of Robert and Major Hawkins' team when someone said 'SG-11,' even though they hadn't been the first SG-11 or even the first to fall. He pulled out his notebook and pen and rewound his first tape of the day's work so he could start transcribing while everything was still fresh in his mind.

"You know what's ironic?" Daniel said to the mound where Robert was buried. "I always thought I was better at dealing with living people while you preferred dead societies, and now I'm talking to graves instead of the living. Not that I'm _talking_ to..."

But he was still talking, so he shut up and waited for his tape to finish rewinding.

The tape recorder clicked to a stop. Daniel set a small stone on top of each of their graves, just to mark that someone had visited, then pushed PLAY and went to work.

He'd finished half of one tape and was nearing the end of one notebook when he realized his face was so close to the page because it was getting too dark to see. Just as he was about to turn on his flashlight, Captain Lorne's voice said from overhead, "It's getting dark. The colonel'd rather have everyone closer together until sunup."

"Oh. Okay," Daniel said, stopping his own voice on the tape and replacing it in his plastic bag.

Lorne waited until he'd packed his things away and stood, heading back to camp together. "So," Lorne said. "This is an alien planet, huh."

Daniel was surprised into grinning. "With respect, Captain, you probably should have noticed that a couple of weeks ago."

"That's not what I meant," Lorne said, rolling his eyes. "It just looks so normal. Except for the"--he made a claw with his hand--"alien beasts."

"It's more immediately obvious in some places," Daniel said. "If there's a...a giant planet visible in the sky, or a few more moons than you're used to, or the climate...although, I'm told there's a wide range of climates on Earth, too. But a lot of planets were, uh...I've forgotten the word the SGC uses. It means they changed the environment artificially to make it habitable."

"Terraforming?" Lorne said.

"Right," Daniel said. "Or, possibly, the Ancients just picked planets that could already support life. Teal'c learned growing up that the Goa'uld did the...terra-forming, but since we've discovered planets like this where advanced Goa'uld have never been, and since we don't know what technology did it, that could be an example of the Goa'uld taking credit for something the Ancients did. And not everywhere is this fertile or so deserted of humans--if it were artificial, one might expect more uniformity, given the Ancients' level of technological advancement. Oh--in fact, traditionally, it's the engineering teams that take charge of mining operations, so you'll probably see Abydos at some point, which is just about the opposite of here."

Lorne raised his eyebrows. "Jesus. It's like I'm back in school."

Daniel sighed. "Sorry. I do that sometimes."

"Nah, I don't mind the lecture. I just mind knowing that I have to _know_ all of that at some point."

"You think that now," Daniel said, "but then a new team is assembled--"

"--and then they look stupid in comparison, huh," Lorne said.

"Oh. No, no," Daniel said, realizing his _faux pas_ too late. "Not--it's...you absorb it as you go, that's all. You know a lot without trying by the time you've been at the SGC for just a year."

Lorne stopped just before they stepped into earshot of the rest of the team. "I don't know about the older guys, but there's speculation among the newer personnel that you're not really human."

Daniel coughed. "Um," he said.

"Yeah," Lorne said, like he was waiting for a response.

"My parents were born in Cairo and New York," he said. He almost added as an afterthought that his grandfather lived in a different phase with mist-like Aztec aliens who spoke Mayan, but decided he'd unnecessarily needled the newbies enough for a few weeks. "So, um."

"Or there's something wrong with you," Lorne amended. "Crazy lucky, crazy stupid, or crazy smart. Or all of the above. We can't figure out which, but they're not mutually exclusive, you understand."

"Uh," Daniel said, frowning. It was hard to tell if Lorne was teasing him; he didn't actually know the man very well. "Huh."

"Listen," Lorne said, taking advantage of his confusion. "You're always off by yourself when you can help it. Do you even know our first names? Because mine isn't Captain."

Embarrassed, Daniel had to shake his head. "Not--not...really. I know Lieutenant Devon is 'Mark.' But..."

"Well, I'm Evan," Lorne said, holding out his hand. Daniel stared at it for a moment before taking it cautiously. "I think that was our first conversation, weird as it was, so...you know. For the record, the colonel's name is Michael, but you should stick to Colonel for him."

"I...yes, sir," Daniel said.

Lorne looked back over his shoulder. "I get that you probably knew _them_ a lot better, and I'm sorry for your loss. But give us a chance, okay?"

Ashamed of what he'd been thinking at the graves just before, he said, "I didn't mean to--"

"No, s'okay. We get it. But you could at _least_ have dinner with everyone for once."

Daniel nodded. "I really didn't mean to make it seem like I don't like you guys or anything, and to be honest, I didn't know the...your predecessors very well, either, as a whole."

"Well, I can see how the Unas are more interesting than we are, so you've got an excuse for that part of the day, but at the end of the day, you don't want to be that antisocial kid off in the corner," Lorne said. "C'mon. Honorary SG-11. There are worse things."

"Yeah," Daniel agreed. "There are." He glanced back once more at the graves, then followed Captain Lorne to the fireside.

XXXXX

**_19 March 2001; Briefing Room, SGC; 0900 hrs_ **

Daniel found himself relaxing into the atmosphere of being around SG-11, if not quite the idea of being one of them, and he returned to the SGC after their weeks of study with a mixture of longing for more time on the mission and eagerness to return to his own team.

He returned, however, to find SG-1 gone and the general grim.

"Mr. Jackson, you should hear this," the general said at the briefing room table with another team. "Report back here as soon as Dr. Fraiser clears you."

So Daniel and SG-11 were escorted to the infirmary for a quick Goa'uld-check and blood screen, and then he hurried back to the briefing room, where SG-2 was gathered around the table.

"P3R-118," General Hammond said once Daniel had taken a seat next to Griff, before he could ask when in the last couple of months Majors Coburn and Pierce reassigned to some other team. "SG-1 went there approximately one week ago after the MALP and UAV showed a large area of concentrated energy in what seemed to be a world too cold to be inhabited."

"That much power means someone put it there," Daniel reasoned, "and if someone survived to build on an uninhabitable world...an artificial environment of some sort?" He knew he'd guessed right by the looks of surprised approval from two people he didn't recognize at the table. SG-2 had undergone some reorganization while he'd been away. A quick look around at their names and insignia told him that Griff had been promoted to Major and must be the commander now.

The general nodded once. "The people of P3R-118 built a domed city. They have what seems to be a very advanced and prosperous society, as well as technology we've never seen on Earth. The people speak a language similar to what Colonel O'Neill learned during three months on Edora, so they were able to begin the establishment of relations and trade negotiations."

"But they never finished," Daniel guessed.

"They reported back to say they'd opened negotiations and then missed their next check-in," Griff said. "The guy in charge--his name is Calder--said Major Carter was so interested in something about the technology that Colonel O'Neill led the team too far into the snow and the storm, against Calder's warnings."

Daniel frowned, immediately suspicious. "That doesn't make any sense. Jack takes safety much more seriously than technology, and Sam wouldn't risk the team like that, not when she could just talk to the engineers in the city instead. Even if it were true, they would've realized they'd gone too far for their bodies to handle long before Teal'c was too weak to get back--"

"We know," Captain Freeman said. He pointed to one of the new faces. "Lieutenant Simpson's our engineer. He doesn't think there's _anything_ there Major Carter would have been so interested in. The rest of us can't find anything, either."

"And I agree about O'Neill," Griff added. "No way would he have let anyone out into that mess."

"So Calder is lying while he negotiates with us," Daniel said. "General--"

"We can't prove it," the general said, "and without more proof or another reason, I'm not authorized to cut off diplomatic ties with them, which is what would happen if we accused Administrator Calder of lying about our people."

A surge of indignation rose--Calder or his people were _lying_ about the lives of SG-1, which meant the SGC shouldn't _want_ diplomatic ties to them, anyway--and then fell, because Daniel knew it didn't work like that. "We can't leave them," he said, thinking furiously. "There has to be something..."

"We're just about to start planning a covert search-and-rescue operation," Griff said. "If we can find SG-1, it'll prove they were lying."

"Or if they _weren't_ lying, they'll be happy for us that we found them," a woman added optimistically. Daniel glanced down at her jacket again to see her name--Lieutenant Walker--and remembered that he'd read over her file a few weeks ago and recommended her for field team testing, after she'd spent a couple of months proving she was good at thinking on her feet in a lot of different languages.

"But we're pretty sure they're lying," Griff said. "Now--"

"Hold on," Daniel interrupted, drawing a scowl, but he'd learned years ago that Griff's scowls were relatively harmless; it was his gun one had to worry about, a fact Daniel was grateful for in someone rescuing SG-1. "They think we're still seeking a trade agreement, right? If they've been communicating with us and lying in an attempt to keep from antagonizing us, that means they still want something. We probably have technology or supplies to offer them."

General Hammond looked thoughtful. "I will not authorize furthering relations with them unless we rule out foul play," he said, though he seemed to be thinking what Daniel was.

"But if we go in and say we're continuing SG-1's mission," Daniel pointed out, "we'll be able to get closer and find out what _really_ happened. Even if we sign a treaty of some sort, if we find out later that they signed under false pretenses or lied in the process, then surely any agreement would be rendered invalid. And," he added reluctantly, "if they're _not_ lying, and my team really _is_...you know... Well, then we still need someone to negotiate with them."

"You'd also be taking the risk that whatever may have happened to SG-1 will happen to you," the general said, but Daniel could tell he was sold and only needed the final arguments.

Griff raised his eyebrows. "Well, if they really _do_ want diplomatic relations with us, they need to keep us unharmed and able to report home. No disrespect intended to Colonel O'Neill," he added, looking first at the general and then at Daniel, "but he might've aggravated them if he thought they were hiding something."

"Yeah," Daniel said, remembering Euronda and what Jack was capable of when he disagreed with aliens' morals. "We'll be nicer and make sure they have no reason to do anything to us."

"Besides, sir," Freeman added, "the risks of a covert search-and-rescue, after we've already been told not to try, are probably greater. If we really think they did something to SG-1, they could do the same to us if they think we're suspicious. Their world is uninhabitable; it wouldn't be hard."

General Hammond stood up. "Then I am now authorizing you to continue SG-1's work in establishing relations with the people of P3R-118," he said. "Mr. Jackson, you just got back from a long mission..."

"So it's a good thing we're not planning on initiating hostilities with them, sir," Daniel said, standing with the others and really hoping he wasn't going to be forbidden from going. "I'm not tired, and I can talk just fine."

The general nodded. "Good. Go get geared up again. Major Griff and Lieutenant Walker will fill you in on any other pertinent details before you leave."

XXXXX

**_19 March 2001; Domed City, P3R-118; 1200 hrs_ **

"It's freezing," Daniel said in his rusty Edoran; Walker said it matched the language here well enough to communicate. "I didn't realize it would be so cold."

He was shivering despite the thick coats they'd worn. The others looked cold but seemed to be faring a little better, perhaps because he had grabbed a particularly big and ill-fitting coat that made him look smaller than he was. That was fine. He was here to play the worried non-soldier, anyway. Griff on a good day wasn't any more diplomatic than Jack, but some people, at least, thought twice before hurting someone when the someone was young.

Not that they were sure SG-1 had been hurt. There were other possibilities. Like prison. Maybe Sam would pick the locks and they'd escape before anything happened.

A woman met them at the doorway, looking oddly distracted, but she smiled, if a little nervously. "I am Brenna," she said, and Daniel automatically began cataloguing away the differences in her speech to try to adapt his own better. "Please, come in and warm yourselves."

"Thank you for your hospitality," Daniel said, fiddling with his glasses and ducking and smiling gratefully in a way that he knew made him look maximally young and harmless. Brenna smiled back at him, and Daniel had no qualms about appealing to the friendliest-looking woman in the room and at least hoping she would feel motherly enough toward a young person to be sympathetic. Sam might have something say about assigning gender roles automatically, but he'd spent years trying to gauge the reactions of people around him, and this time, he was comfortable playing the odds.

He angled himself away from a stiff-backed woman taking notes from the corner--she was watching them too sharply to hide her suspicion--and decided not to speak too much to the man coming out into the main hall just now, looking professionally welcoming and not at all prone to sympathy or motherliness.

"Administrator Calder," Lieutenant Walker told Daniel quietly.

"Major Griff," Calder said, nodding to Griff, "and the SG-2. I regret to tell you that we have still been unable to find Colonel O'Neill and his team. I recommend for your own safety that you do not continue your own efforts."

"We understand," Walker said when Griff nodded to her. "We thank you for your efforts and hope that you will be willing to pursue talks with us, as you had been doing with SG-1."

Calder looked surprised for a moment, enough that Daniel began to worry the man was finding it suspicious, so he spoke up again.

"I am a friend of SG-1. Now that they are..." He paused, dredging up enough suppressed anxiety to be sure his expression was real. "Because they are...lost and your city has been so kind, General Hammond allowed me to come here with SG-2. I know Major Carter...very well, and I know she always seeks to improve technology. I did not think my friends would be so foolish as to ignore your warnings, but..." He stopped again.

He had been watching Brenna out of the corner of his eye, though, and saw how she ducked her head and then almost flinched when Sam's name had been mentioned--or was it the technology? Whatever it was, he could work on her.

Walker gave him a deliberate pat on the arm and finished, "Our sorrow for our friends is great, but we hope our worlds may prosper as allies. And this time," she added, to establish their own safety net, "we will not wander away into the unsafe parts of your world. General Hammond knows we are fully under your protection and that no harm will come to us."

The prospect of putting SG-1's so-called loss aside and continuing relations with the SGC seemed to be enough temptation, and Calder gave them another polite nod. "Of course. Please, follow me. Brenna, I believe you have business that you must attend to?"

Brenna still looked unhappy about something, but she only said, "It is an honor to serve," and began to turn away.

"Wait," Daniel said before she could leave and the rest of them follow Calder, "Brenna? Did you know my friends before they..." He gestured out the window, where they could see heavily-layered snow.

The woman hesitated and glanced at Calder. Daniel held his breath, knowing from her reactions what the answer was but hoping she wouldn't lie and force him to find another way in.

Finally, she said, "I spoke with them, a little. They toured the city with me."

With a glance toward Griff, Daniel hunched his shoulders and said, "May I speak with you?"

Calder didn't seem to think he was a threat or useful to negotiations in any way. "That would be fine," Brenna said when Calder didn't say otherwise. "There is a room this way where we can speak. I will show you the way back to your team afterward."

...x...

Brenna closed the door behind her and gave Daniel an awkward smile. "You do not need to be with SG-2 and Administrator Calder?"

Daniel shook his head. "General Hammond allowed me to return because he knew I wished to speak with someone who had last spoken to my friends."

A flash of unease crossed her face again. "I... I am afraid I did not have that honor. They were on the tour with me only briefly," she said.

But the rhythm of the words was wrong, too halting and disjointed, as if pasted together. Any lies Daniel told weren't obvious in his words--he could always excuse it as a foreigner's accent, but in a native speaker, a language had a music to it and her lines now sounded off-key.

Searching for some other place to prod deeper, Daniel said, "Oh. Did they seem happy?"

"They..." Brenna said. "I...suppose. J--Colonel O'Neill may have been concerned, perhaps, but...you must understand, I did not know them well."

Daniel looked down at his hands to give himself time to pull his expression back again. She'd almost called Jack...something. 'Jack,' maybe, except that Jack had become so accustomed to being called 'O'Neill' or 'Colonel O'Neill' by all aliens not named 'Daniel' that he always introduced himself as such, not even as Colonel Jack O'Neill--it simply confused people who had different naming conventions. Without Daniel on this mission, it was unlikely Brenna had ever heard Jack's first name.

Still, what did that mean? That Jack had introduced himself differently for once? That Sam had mentioned that name 'Jack' for some reason? That Brenna knew Jack--and Sam and Teal'c--better than she was saying?

But something. Something, something...

Daniel was carrying his sidearm and was fairly sure he could easily overpower Brenna and demand an answer. But it depended on how loyal she was to whatever she was hiding and on other things he couldn't tell from here: who was outside, how well they could hear, how far he would have to go, what help he could expect, and what Brenna carried under the plain bulky clothing she wore. Maybe she was a fighter, and he simply didn't know it. Maybe she hid better than he did.

New topic. Sam's name. Brenna had tensed at the mention of her and technology. "Did Major Carter ever tell you what she was trying to discover?" Daniel asked, and then allowed a small laugh. "She must have asked you so much about all the technology she saw around here. Is that what your job is in this city--you know about technology?"

"No," Brenna said, "I..." She paused, just long enough to see through the lie. "...keep records."

"Oh, really?" Daniel said, brightening. "I study records." He grinned, briefly. "You mean stories, history?"

She seemed a bit thrown by the change in mood but smiled nonetheless, relaxing now they'd stopped talking about SG-1. "No--I keep records of the people and the work that they do."

Now _that_ would be useful. There was no way to ask for them directly, though, now that he'd established that he studied historical records.

Instead, Daniel looked out the window, where he could see the rest of the city and the snowstorm beyond. "I've read of many societies," he said admiringly. "Rarely have I heard of places like this, where _all_ your people prosper and everything works so...so well. Efficient."

Brenna's smile became a bit strained, so Daniel pushed harder there.

"Often," he said, as if oblivious, "we find that that means the society either has very, very advanced technological abilities or--"

Oh. This was it. Even as he said it, he knew. What else would have peaked Sam's interest in technology and energy and raised Jack's ire all at once?

"--or they must use a lower class of citizens for labor, just to fill energy needs," Daniel finished, watching Brenna's smile fade. "Oh, but I'm not accusing you of using slaves, of course. In truth, the first purpose of the SGC is to fight a war against a race of people who tell humans they have to serve and then use them as slaves."

"Really," Brenna said.

Nodding, Daniel said, "We are trained to fight people who would do such a thing. It's terrible, is it not? That's why we look for allies. My friends on SG-1 must have recognized that your people are good and would help us in our fight against such evil deeds."

"Enough," she said, and Daniel shut up.

He'd gotten sloppy. He could sound threatening, moving, or curious if he tried, but he'd lost the necessary subtlety when he'd tried to use them all at once. If he had moved more slowly, pushed more gently...

"Come," she said tersely.

Daniel didn't move, knowing she knew what he'd been doing.

But Brenna glanced once at the door and said quietly, "Do not pretend. We both know of what you speak, but we cannot speak here. Come." When his hand inched up toward his radio, she said, "Your companions are with the administrator."

He let his hand fall to his side. Calder couldn't know. "Is this what happened to my friends?"

She pressed her lips together for a moment, then said, "Yes. But you will be safe with me. If you stop me, you have no one to help you."

Which wasn't reassuring at all, but Brenna had seemed uneasy from the start. Even if he didn't have any reason but desperation and instinct to trust her...well. Evan Lorne had called him crazy at least two or three times in the space of a few weeks; he might as well live up to the reputation.

...x...

They stepped into another office, one without windows. "Are we beneath the surface?" Daniel asked, looking back at the stairs they had just walked down.

"Yes," Brenna said simply, and closed the door. "I will bring your friends. I would have done so even if you had not come."

Daniel's heart leapt. "They are alive?" he blurted, allowing desperation to seep through in his relief. "Here?"

She looked around nervously. "Understand," she said, "that the people here are...happy. They are happy when they can serve. Our method ensures it."

"And my friends?" Daniel pressed. "Colonel O'Neill, Major Carter, Teal'c? Whatever is it you have done to them, do you claim they are happy?" Brainwashing, that must be it.

Maybe Brenna was just as brainwashed by their society, or she truly believed it was all right to use slaves as long as the slaves seemed happy. But SG-1 wasn't brainwashed, surely, not in a week's time, and Brenna must have seen they weren't happy. It was impossible to pretend an unhappy slave was anything but a slave or a prisoner.

Except that wasn't it, either, not quite.

"Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter are content as they are now," Brenna said. Daniel furrowed his brow, confused--that didn't any sense. "But Teal'c is dying. I cannot watch him die."

"What did you do to him?" Daniel demanded, quietly, mindful that he had no idea how well sound penetrated these walls. "What did you do to them?"

"They were given mind stamps," she said. "It is a chemical that affects their memories. They believe they are loyal citizens called Jonah, Thera, and Tor, and are honored to serve our city. Jonah and Thera have held, but the technology barely works with Tor--Teal'c."

Mind stamps. How had they developed a technology like that? How had they even _conceived_ of it? "So..." he said. "So. But. It can be reversed?"

Brenna nodded. "They will remember everything in time. The conditions there, the food we give them, the periodic examinations...they all enforce the stamp, but away from here, once they are reminded, they will return to normal."

"But why is Teal'c dying?" Daniel said, still not fully comprehending how and what.

"I was hoping you might know," she said. "He became weak and ill after only a few days. He does not sleep, and there is an odd wound on his stomach..."

" _Kelno'reem_ ," Daniel realized. "He needs to meditate every day to remain in health. But now," he said, unable to help a spike of anger despite the woman's good--if late--intentions, "he cannot remember that he must _kelno'reem_."

She looked relieved. "I will bring him immediately. Perhaps together, we can find a way for him to leave."

"No--all of them," Daniel said, dropping all traces of his previous act and standing as tall as he could. His hand inched toward his weapon. "You will bring _all_ of my team out here."

Brenna hesitated for a moment, and Daniel wondered suddenly whether _she_ had been mind-stamped, too. How many in this city knew about it, and how many had been chemically conditioned not to argue? "Yes," she finally said, nodding. "Stay here. I will bring them."

...x...

Jack and Sam came first, the former unshaven and the latter with her hair cut short, both of them dressed in the same kind of clothing that Brenna wore. Daniel glimpsed the open doorway and saw nothing but darkness before Brenna disappeared again and it shut behind her.

"Hello," Jack said.

"Who are you?" Sam said.

Daniel winced and deliberately switched to English. " _Um...okay. This is going to sound...weird. I'm Daniel. You're Jack, and you're Sam. Uh, Colonel Jack O'Neill and Major Sam Carter._ "

Jack exchanged a glance with Sam. " _I'm Jonah_ ," he said mildly, but he was answering in the right language, even if he didn't seem to realize it. " _She's Thera_."

" _No_ ," Daniel said. " _No, you're Jack_."

" _No, I'm not_ ," Jack said.

" _Yes, you--look, we don't have time for this_ ," Daniel said impatiently.

" _You're probably_ noch-tinn," Jack said. " _You should lie down_."

Noch-tinn...night-sick? What was that?

Sam finally heard the discrepancy, though, and was frowning. " _Wait a minute. How do we know this language?_ " she asked.

" _What language?_ " Jack said.

Daniel resisted the urge to do something uncharacteristically violent, because they were in the bowels of a building under the surface with someone much more powerful who had more than enough followers to outnumber them greatly. "Jack," he said impatiently, pointing again. "Sam. Daniel. _We're part of SG-1 of Stargate Command of Earth, the Tau'ri, along with Teal'c_."

" _That's the one who got_ noch-tinn _,_ " Sam said.

" _No, that was Tor,_ " Jack said, but they were both looking confused now. " _Wasn't it?_ "

" _No, sir,_ " she said, shaking her head. " _He said his name was Teal'c, and...didn't he say we were part of SG-1?_ "

Jack paused. " _Sir?_ "

" _Stargate!_ " Daniel snapped. " _SG-1. You're our commander, Jack. Sam, you're an astrophysicist._ "

" _What about Homer?_ " Jack said.

Daniel pressed his lips together, not letting himself feel the spark of hope that they'd clearly remembered _something_ , because there was no time for that. " _I'm sorry to tell you, this Jack, but Homer Simpson isn't real. But there's a guy on SG-2 named Lieutenant Burt Simpson--_ "

" _Really?_ " Jack said, brightening, then couldn't seem to understand why he found that funny.

Then two men entered, carrying a litter, on top of which lay Teal'c. Daniel barely managed to keep his mouth shut until the two men had set Teal'c onto a table and left, leaving the four of them alone with Brenna.

"Has Daniel Jackson explained to you?" Brenna said.

"He talks a lot," Jack said, and Daniel had to admit had hadn't done a very good job of explaining much, lost in his haste and hope that they would just remember.

"I am going to help you go home," Brenna said.

But a movement to the side caught his attention. Teal'c had spent years conditioning Daniel to see and hear his commands, and then there had been recent months of drills interspersed with the blindfold that Daniel hated to wear while Teal'c stalked him. And now he saw.

Teal'c wasn't dying. He was awake and ready and ordering Daniel to be ready, too, and if Teal'c had somehow remembered _kelno'reem_ and Jaffa hand signals on his own, it meant he _remembered_ , and with Jack and Sam still confused, Teal'c was in command. Daniel was about to answer when the door opened and Teal'c immediately closed his eyes and lay limp again.

Major Griff walked through the door first. Daniel didn't have to see his hands in the air to know something was wrong, because he'd worked with SG-2 before, when he and Griff had both been the newest members, and Griff's face only got _really_ mad like that when someone did something stupid that got in the way of a mission.

The point was, though, that Calder was with him, along with the rest of SG-2--Freeman, Simpson, Walker--and enough guards to hold the local equivalent of a firearm on each of them. There was another one pointing at Daniel, too, and he put his hands in the air.

"Um," Daniel said. "Hi?"

Still...one guard on each man or woman. SG-2 might be able to beat them, if they were coordinated enough, except that this was a new version of SG-2. Daniel wasn't sure how long Griff had been the commander and how long it had been since Walker and Simpson had replaced Pierce and Coburn, but they might not know each other's body language well enough.

Or maybe they had been hoping SG-1 would be able to help once they got here and had waited so they could all act together--save everyone at once.

Unfortunately, Jack and Sam still looked confused.

Fortunately, Calder didn't know Teal'c was awake, watching him from behind.

"Brenna," Calder said, confident in the five guards he'd brought with him. "We have been watching you. And I am...disappointed."

Teal'c's eyes flicked briefly to Daniel as he sat up silently, forgotten and assumed dead or dying in the corner of the room. Daniel met Griff's eyes, raised his eyebrows, looked past him to Teal'c and then back. Then he glanced pointedly that way again, until Griff narrowed his own eyes and tensed, very slightly, ready to act. The rest of SG-2 shifted, too, very slightly, alerted by that signal alone, and Daniel realized with chagrin that he shouldn't have underestimated them--one didn't get onto SG-2 and sent on a covert mission without being very well trained.

SG-2 was still watching Daniel, though, because they could only see Daniel and only Daniel could see Teal'c. So when Teal'c was on his feet, Daniel let his fingers sag just a fraction, enough that his hand signaled a sloppy, ' _Five...four...three..._ '

"But now you are no longer useful to me," Calder said, raising his gun, aiming at Brenna.

' _...one..._ '

Daniel grabbed Brenna and dropped to the ground heavily enough to bring them both to the floor. Yelling, thumps, two gunshots that he hoped were misfires that hadn't hit anyone. "Stay," he said to Brenna, pulling his pistol free.

By the time he rose back to his feet, Teal'c had Calder in a loose chokehold, two guards were unconscious on the ground, Walker standing over both with a stolen gun, Griff and Freeman were holding one guard while Simpson pressed a gun to the throat of the fourth, and...

Jack and Sam had gotten hold of two other guns, too. Jack was aiming his at Calder and Sam at the last guard.

"Jack?" Daniel said, lowering his weapon when it seemed clear he was more likely to shoot a friendly than to actually need his gun. "Sam? Teal'c?"

" _I am fine_ ," Teal'c said, smiling smugly as he tightened his grip around Calder's throat for a second before easing off enough to let the man breathe.

"Daniel," Jack said, in his voice that said he was the commander, and that was all Daniel needed to know it would be all right. "Thera--"

"Sam," Daniel repeated. "Carter."

" _Right_ ," Jack said. " _Major Carter_."

" _Jonah_?" Sam said.

" _No_ ," Jack said.

" _Sir_ ," she amended, wrinkling her brow. " _Uh, we need to get to...uh..._ "

" _Stargate_ ," Jack said.

Sam nodded. " _Right_."

" _Sir_?" Griff said, looking lost. Apparently, no one had told him about the mind stamps yet, but it didn't matter, really, because they were going home.

" _Their memories were altered_ ," Daniel explained briefly. " _They'll be okay at home, but SG-2 needs to take point._ "

" _All right, first things first_ ," Griff said, still holding onto one of the guards. " _Anyone got restraints on him?_ " Walker took her hand off her gun long enough to extract a pack of cable ties. Griff looked at Jack, but when no one said anything, he ordered, " _Jackson, help her get these guys tied up._ "

Daniel quickly secured a strip of plastic around the hands of the guards, starting with the ones still awake. As Griff rose to his feet and yanked open the door SG-1 had just come out of--the work room?--Calder spoke up. "You will never reach the Stargate."

Jack might been still a little lost in Jonah, but he was still Jack and retorted, "With you as hostage? I think we can make it."

"What is in there?" Daniel asked Brenna, pointing at where Griff had disappeared.

"That is where the workers generate our energy," Brenna said.

"If you used my plans," Sam said indignantly, "it would be much safer and more efficient!" Brenna nodded but didn't answer. So _that_ was how she knew Sam.

" _Carter, I don't think that's gonna be our main problem now_ ," Jack said briskly. " _There are hundreds, maybe thousands of workers, and none of them even know who they are. We're gonna show them._ "

XXXXX

**_23 March 2001; O'Neill/Jackson Residence; 2000 hrs_ **

It took another few days for Jack and Sam to stop calling each other Jonah and Thera, with some odd variations, including Colonel Jonah, Major Thera, and even a Captain Carter and a Jack.

By the time team night came that Friday, things felt mostly normal again--the latest trip to '888 had been finished up, Daniel was back with SG-1, Jack no longer confused Teal'c, Tor, and Thor, and SG-2 was celebrating their first successful mission. Daniel didn't tell them that Brenna had clearly been about to crack, anyway, and SG-1 might have rescued themselves without SG-2 and Daniel's help. The team, new as it was, had done a good job.

Daniel shook his head. "I still can't believe you remembered Homer Simpson before me," he grumbled good-naturedly once Sam and Teal'c had arrived. "Hey, uh--"

"What?" Jack said.

Sam and Teal'c dropped into seats, too. "What do you think will happen to them?" Daniel said. "P3R-118. I mean...we did just take away the source of labor that was allowing them to survive at all." Jack blinked at him. "Not that I'm advocating slavery," Daniel said quickly. "I mean, I wouldn't, you know that. But...well. There's a question of survival."

"They'll survive," Sam said. "If nothing else, they'll all just have to get their hands dirty and start working. I even left Brenna with plans for improving their systems."

Of course she had. Even as Thera, she had still been Sam. "Maybe they'll survive, then," Daniel said. "But their society's been completely turned upside down."

"Because they were enslaving people," Jack said.

"Maybe it needed turning around," Sam said.

Daniel nodded. "Yeah, I...I guess. I just think...maybe...if we 're willing to say we have the right to change their way of life, we should at least be willing to, you know, make sure they don't collapse into civil war or something."

"We stick our collective noses into everything all the time," Jack said. "Personally, I think slavery's a good one to stick our noses into."

"Moreover," Teal'c added, "they had captured our own people."

"Which was wrong of them," Daniel agreed. "But maybe that only gives us the right to rescue _our_ people, not to mess around with theirs."

"They were never going to get out on their own," Sam said. "They were slaves."

"Maybe they signed up for it," Daniel said. "Like...people who can't find a job volunteer and get to earn a living and get stamped with a personality that tells them they're happy. Or maybe that's why they don't seem to have any crime--criminals have their records cleared and start anew, we don't know."

"Slavery doesn't become okay just because both parties signed up for it," Sam said. "And that's _if_ that really is how people started working in the mines or whatnot. If nothing else, those places are a health hazard."

They were still thinking according to Tau'ri law, though. Still, Daniel didn't argue; Jack was right, to a point--they interfered in everything, they couldn't undo something they'd already done, and if they'd started a civil war, they didn't have the resources to intervene, even if people would agree to do so. Sometimes Daniel wondered if they hurt as many people as they helped.

"Pizza's here," Jack said when the doorbell rang.

Daniel forced himself to smile and stood to get the door before the others could move, reminding himself that their people were safe and that there was another possibility--maybe, freed from slavery, the workers would remember who they were and find a better way of living. Friends alive and a possibility of a better future...most days, that was all they could ask for.

XXXXX

**_29 March 2001; Control Room, SGC; 1000 hrs_ **

"Receiving remote signal--it's the Tok'ra," the technician said.

Daniel glanced at Sam. "Hasn't Jacob been on a mission for months?"

"Yeah, about half a year," she said, moving toward the stairs as the iris began to open.

Jack made a face and said, "If it's not Jacob, I swear..."

"Colonel," the general interrupted, gesturing for the rest of them to step toward the stairs, too.

Daniel followed Teal'c and Sam into the embarkation room and arrived just in time for Jacob Carter to step out of the wormhole. He started to smile until he heard the familiar sounds of weapons snapping into place around him.

"It's my dad--stand down!" Sam said, turning around as well.

"Belay that order," General Hammond said.

"Sir," Sam protested, looking as confused as Daniel was.

Jacob raised his hands. "Nice to see you all, too."

"Sorry, Jake," the general said to a bemused-looking Jacob Carter. "But you've been on mission since before we started having problems with a certain technology that the Tok'ra call _zatarcs_. Until we're sure you haven't been tampered with, I'm afraid--"

"Don't worry, George," Jacob said. "The Tok'ra tested me as soon as I got back. You can call them if you need confirmation, but unless you _really_ want to question me again about my activities during six months of laying low near a naquadah mine, I'd rather skip to the part where I give my daughter a hug."

Sam barely waited for the order before she hurried forward to her father. "How was your mission?"

"Vaporized a good chunk of a planet," Jacob said casually. "So not bad. By the way," he added, letting Sam go and giving the general a serious look, "the planet was less than a day's flight from Earth, George. We think they were trying to set up a base to attack Earth at some point."

"But we're protected by the Asgard," Daniel said.

"The System Lords may seek covert ways to circumvent the Protected Planets Treaty," Teal'c said.

Jacob nodded in agreement. "If a minor Goa'uld happened to do something and the System Lords claim not to have known about it... Just watch out. Can't appeal to the Asgard if you're dead. Maybe you haven't had to destroy any motherships lately, but they're still gunning for you."

"Have you heard anything about the Goa'uld Osiris?" Daniel said. "Recently, I mean."

Jacob turned to him, and then Selmak answered, "Not in the last few thousand years."

"Yeah," Jack sighed. "Well, she's back."

"She--Isis?" Selmak said, looking confused.

"No, Isis is dead," Daniel said. "Her skeleton is in someone's lab. _Osiris_ is back. A civilian archaeologist must have opened the jar where he was trapped, and he blended with her, and we didn't manage to stop her before she escaped."

"In this old, really retro ship," Jack added.

"It would be helpful to us to know her face," Selmak said, "in the case that one of the Tok'ra encounters Osiris."

The general nodded. "Why don't you come upstairs. We can talk in the briefing room--there's a lot to catch up with. Or are you here on business?"

"Nope," Jacob answered, following them up. "Just here to spend downtime with the family. Hey, is that a DHD?"

"Like we said, Dad," Sam said. "Lots to tell you."

...x...

Daniel's phone rang just an hour later to call him down to the general's office. Inside, he found General Hammond, Dr. Reeve, and Dr. Jordan.

"Ah...um. Sir," Daniel said, stopping dumbfounded in the doorway. "General. Rick. Doctor."

Dr. Jordan stood up, wearing a coat and carrying a briefcase. He extended a hand. "It's nice to meet you in the proper context finally..."

His intonation said he hadn't finished the sentence--trying to figure out what to call Daniel, perhaps. "I don't have a title," Daniel said. "Or a rank or...um. You can call me...pretty much anything. Or Daniel Jackson, which is what a lot of aliens call me. Except Martouf. Which is a...you probably haven't met him."

By then, the general was looking at him strangely. Daniel didn't get nervous like this anymore, not in the home territory of the SGC. Dr. Jordan nodded politely and shook his hand.

The introduction couldn't have taken more than fifteen awkward and uncomfortable seconds. Not like it had been when he'd met Robert at the SGC years ago, when it had been indignation, offense, surprise, fascination, admiration. With Dr. Jordan, there was wariness and a sense of expectation that Daniel suspected neither of them could fulfill.

"I didn't realize you were working here now," Daniel said, throwing a questioning glance at Rick.

"I'm still in Chicago, but I'm now officially a consultant to this organization," Dr. Jordan said. "Looking for SGC business in the normal world and scouting potential recruits for you."

The _normal world_. It was odd to remember that, to most people, this world was not normal, though the SGC was as normal as anything had ever been to Daniel.

"In fact," Jordan continued, glancing at the general, "I understand you were the one who suggested this arrangement, Mr. Jackson."

General Hammond spoke up. "It was originally his idea, yes, because of your prior contact with us. Even if you won't be _here_ most of the time, however, it _is_ best for you to see the SGC firsthand and speak with our personnel."

Dr. Jordan hefted the briefcase. "Dr. Reeve has given me some files to read, and I've been given a brief history and the official mission statements."

"Oh," Daniel said, wondering what they needed _him_ for, then. If the man had been joining an SG team, that would have been a different matter; Rick Reeve had been leaving that side of things largely to Daniel. But for deskwork, especially part-time when Dr. Jordan was still entrenched in academia, there wasn't much Daniel could say that anyone else in the department couldn't or hadn't already said.

Except, of course...

"Dr. Jordan has asked if he could speak with you, Mr. Jackson, about a few personal matters," the general said.

"You mean Robert Rothman and what happened in Chicago and Cairo," Daniel said, glancing at the general again.

"He has full clearance to hear about it," the general assured him. "And you'd know better than anyone if the doctor has questions about how his work will be applied in practical situations."

"Do you mind?" Dr. Jordan said. "I understand you're very busy around here."

"No," Daniel heard himself say. "No, of course--we owe you the full story, at least. Um. If you're done with everything here, you can come up to my office."

...x...

"I thought I was going to be arrested when they called me," Dr. Jordan said, taking a seat in the chair Daniel dragged over to his desk.

"Huh?" Daniel said, wondering if he'd missed something.

"When they called to offer me a job," Jordan explained. "After what happened with Steven and Sarah--Drs. Rayner and Gardner--I found Robert's old research from when he was a student and stumbled onto a paper by Melburn Jackson." Daniel bit his lip. "And that reminded me of you, so even though it seemed a long shot, I kept looking until I realized he and Claire Ballard had worked for the Air Force, too. I admit I wasn't brave enough to dig as far as I apparently need to to find out _anything_ about you, and there wasn't much to find about the others I met that day."

"I'm that Jackson, if that's what you're asking--their son," Daniel said. "At least some of their work--and Robert's early work--really was correct, but I guess you know that now." He settled awkwardly into his chair. "You weren't supposed to keep looking."

Jordan's lips twitched at the corners, as if he had been about to smile but stopped. "I had insufficient data that didn't fit my observations, and there was no conclusion. And they were my students. You didn't really expect me to give up and not wonder, did you?"

Daniel shook his head. "No. That's why I suggested hiring you to begin with."

"It wasn't because of my impressive résumé?"

"That helped," Daniel said, almost smiling and then stopping before he did. Then he wondered why he didn't want to like Dr. Jordan and decided not to probe that any more than he had to. "So. Um. How much do you know about...us?"

"I heard the orientation speech and I've read the recommended seminal report summaries," Jordan said, "as well as a few others I could get my hands on."

Which meant, essentially, a scientific description of the Goa'uld and the Stargate mechanism, the Goa'uld pantheon, Abydos '82 and '97, Chulak, all invasions that had touched Earth or this solar system (except the foothold incident last year--that was a sealed file), the meetings and treaties of all major allies or hostile races, and meetings with--or the defeat of--any System Lords and major Goa'uld.

"Then you understand now what happened to Dr. Gardner and Dr. Rayner," Daniel said.

"Osiris," Jordan said, nodding, only his tightly clenched hands showing that his calm expression was a façade. "The others I've talked to weren't very clear about what that really means, though, practically, and that's what I want to talk to you about. Your goal now is...what? To kill her?"

Daniel straightened and took a breath, glad now that he was Mr. Jackson to this man and not Daniel. "I'm going to be blunt," he said. "We have two principal goals concerning her. The first is to kill Osiris, and the second is to save Sarah Gardner. Unfortunately, while the two are not mutually exclusive, that is the order of our priorities."

Jordan looked surprised. Perhaps Daniel had seemed more sympathetic that time months ago, compared with Jack, or perhaps Rick had been less frank with him about the details. In fact, perhaps Rick or whoever else he'd talked to disagreed with that ordering and had mentioned it.

"But you'll try?" Jordan said.

"I...don't want to give you false hope," Daniel said, because they always tried--or told themselves that they did--but they'd only saved Skaara and Sha'uri so far, and even then, Sha'uri had practically saved herself while Skaara had managed to land in Tollan space. The SGC had rarely, if ever, been able to save another Goa'ulded host.

"Does that mean 'no?'" Jordan said.

"Look," Daniel said, pushing up his glasses, "if we see a chance, we'd be much more likely to take it than with most other Goa'uld we meet, because Dr. Gardner has been a host for such a short time that she would probably survive Osiris's death. There _is_ a chance. It's just...small. In the most likely situations I can imagine, trying to save Dr. Gardner would significantly reduce the likelihood of stopping Osiris and would also risk many other people's lives, both _at_ the time of the operation and also _after_ it if we failed."

"But if a risk assessment were made," Jordan pressed, "and it were deemed possible...?"

_("I'm not asking you to pray for Tanith's host, Teal'c," Daniel said. "Just don't kill him, either."_

_"I may be forced to do so," Teal'c said. "I cannot promise you such a thing."_

_"Well, promise me that you'd try if you could."_ _)_

Sometimes the practicalities and other responsibilities had to take precedence over what they would have preferred to do. He understood that now.

"We'll try," Daniel said, and promised himself that he, at least, _would_ make Sarah Gardner's survival a priority if he could. She could still be saved, the way his brother and sister had been. The way Robert had not. "We truly will. I promise you that _I'll_ try, personally, and my team is one of the most likely to encounter her out there. But that's all we can give you."

Jordan looked at the other desk in the room, as if he knew who used to sit there. "Robert wrote to me sometimes. He couldn't tell me what the dilemmas were, but I knew he wasn't studying satellites in NORAD. He said it was difficult to accept the...rules of engagement, I suppose, and reconcile them with the morality we learn as a society outside military life."

"That sounds like him," Daniel agreed with a renewed pang. "We used to talk about that a lot." He had more than enough of those arguments with people like Jack, but not with people who would sit against a tree and talk about actions and motivations and not just consequences.

"Of course," Jordan said more lightly, "now that I know about the SGC, maybe I should ask _which_ society's morals he was trying to adhere to. Those must vary from planet to planet."

"No one's ever right, exactly," Daniel said. "Not when one action means murder and another means _allowing_ murder."

"No, I suppose there often aren't any right answers in a war," Jordan said.

Daniel hesitated, then said, "Have you talked to the others in these offices? Each of them would give you a different opinion on where to draw certain lines. Please don't think that we don't consider everything we can."

"Well, I'd assume there _are_ differences in opinion, with civilians and combatants collaborating so closely."

He shook his head. "It's not just that. The university where you work doesn't teach students what to do about symbiotic, parasitical tyrants any more than the Air Force Academy does."

Jordan raised an eyebrow. "True. Your supervisor seems to be rather skeptical about some of what happens out there, but he also seems to think the right people are _out there_ making those decisions. Ah...I don't mean to offend, but I do find it odd that one of those people is..."

"...me," Daniel filled in ruefully. "Yes? I hear it a lot. It's understandable."

"I suppose you're not the oddest oddity found around here, though," Jordan said, his tone saying it was another attempt at some levity.

"Oh, no, I'm...pretty odd as oddities go," Daniel said.

"Something of a legend, to hear people talk," Jordan said, raising an eyebrow. "Or, at least, the loosest of loose cannons, though I honestly can't tell if that's meant as a compliment or insult."

Daniel grimaced. "That depends on who said it, and in reference to what," he admitted. "The major decisions aren't up to me, if that's what worries you. Colonel O'Neill allows me a lot of input, but he's still, ultimately, my commanding officer with plenty of experience. Our whole team has the 'loose cannon' reputation, to some extent--"

"I've noticed."

"--but in the context of our environment, that means we tend to adapt when we find something our experience doesn't cover. Sometimes we have no choice but to bend a few regulations to do that. Don't, uh...that's not official policy, though," he added quickly. "I didn't say it."

"Then what would happen to Sarah if someone else--not you or your team--found her?" Jordan asked. "I assume they all know by now she's Osiris, and that regulations say to take the...more expedient route."

"It depends," Daniel explained. "If she were alone--which is unlikely--they'd try to stun and restrain her, and then take her to have Osiris extracted. But even alone, many System Lords, including Osiris, carry at least one weapon that makes them...not invulnerable, but hard to injure or capture. If she were with her Jaffa, our people would probably be far outnumbered. Then, they would either try to collect intelligence and return...or look for a way to cause as much damage as possible to her forces immediately."

"In other words," Jordan said, "assassinate her."

"What would you do," Daniel said, "if you had a choice between killing one person and letting her live to kill dozens, hundreds more?"

Jordan's expression tightened. "Lives are more than just numbers."

"I know that, but it doesn't answer the question of what to do."

"Is that how Robert died?" Jordan asked.

Daniel met his stare. "Robert Rothman was... His loss was a blow to this command, for strategic reasons as well as personal ones. I would've done anything..." He looked at the desk. "If there had been a better way... I wish there were a better way. But most of the time, there isn't."

"Mr. Jackson, you've been honest with me," Jordan said suddenly. "So I hope you'll allow me the same." A little wary, Daniel nodded. "You were a child when you started this."

"Well..." Daniel started, familiar arguments springing to his tongue.

"Let me finish," Jordan said in the tone that he must use to tell a class full of students to settle down. "You don't act like one, I'll grant you, and from watching you and talking to others, I understand you're good at your job. But, knowing now what your job _is_ , I'm...a bit appalled at the United States government for allowing you to do what you do, and it doesn't give me much reassurance about what else is allowed."

_You'd get along well with Dr. Mackenzie_ , Daniel thought. "If you knew how much it took to convince them that they weren't misusing a child, you'd understand," he said staunchly. "And just so you know, I'm now older than some of your own country's military recruits."

"According to the reports, you were much younger when you started," Jordan retorted. "I simply don't see that there's any excuse for that. Your culture might not believe the same, but you've been acting for years in the name of an organization whose written laws you broke every time you went on a mission."

Daniel looked down at his desk. He wasn't used to having to argue about this anymore.

Resentment nudged sullenly at him, but he wasn't sure if it was because this man had no right to ask him to prove himself yet again, or if it was because Robert had accepted him within minutes and put him to work with few questions. He had imagined, for some unfathomable reason, that Robert's professor would believe the same, though, of course, Dr. Jordan was talking about combat, not translations like it had been with Robert.

Jack had warned him about this, though. Some new employees would accept him because the veterans did or because they'd worked with him; others would be harder to convince.

"Well," Daniel finally said, "that's something we'll have to disagree on. You can disapprove of my work if you want, Dr. Jordan, but don't presume to know or judge me and the SGC until you can claim to know everything that's brought us to where we stand today. We are...we're doing our best. With the exception of complaints about my age, I'm usually the one who says the things you're saying now. But that's because I usually have the luxury of knowing my teammates will take the more realistic point of view and allow me to say what we'd all _prefer_ to do if our people weren't dying."

Footsteps made him look up past a startled-looking Jordan, where Jack and Teal'c were standing in the doorway. Jordan turned, too. Jack stopped with his mouth open as if to speak and raised his eyebrows in question.

"Jack," Daniel invited tersely in answer.

They stepped inside and seemed to decide Jordan must have clearance if he was in there. "Message from Bra'tac," Jack said.

Daniel stood in alarm. "What happened?"

"Thus far, nothing," Teal'c said, standing at rest and folding his hands together to signify that Daniel could relax and sit back down. "He spoke of a Jaffa called Rak'nor who commands the loyalty of many on Chulak."

"But you're not sure," Daniel said, because if Teal'c had been sure, he would have been on his way already, or there would have been a formal briefing.

"If Bra'tac is convinced of Rak'nor's commitment to our cause, then I will go to seek his alliance," Teal'c said.

Jack shrugged, but he was watching Jordan out of the corner of his eye, as if suspicious that the archaeologist would do something. "Should hear in the next couple of days, and then Teal'c's going on his own. So keep your schedule clear for next week."

_Just in case_ , he meant. In case something went wrong and Teal'c needed backup of some sort that they could provide. Daniel nodded, though if Teal'c were captured or worse on Chulak, there wasn't much that a few men and women could do against a planet of hostile Jaffa.

"So," Jack said, glancing more pointedly at Jordan, "Daniel?"

"Dr. Jordan's going to collaborate with us," Daniel said. "He had questions, and we're discussing how things work in theory and in practice at the SGC."

"So...?" Jack said again.

"We're fine," Daniel said firmly. "Is there anything I should do about this Rak'nor thing?"

"There is not," Teal'c told him. "Do not overly concern yourself. The mission should take me no more than a few days."

"We'll leave you to discuss, then," Jack said, backing toward the door again. "Daniel--"

"Clear next week's schedule," Daniel said dutifully. "Yes, Jack."

"All right," Jack said. "We're going to Carter's place with her Dad when she's done with some whatchamacallit in the lab, so..."

"I'll meet you after work."

"You will meet me in the gymnasium at 1530 hours," Teal'c reminded him.

Daniel glanced up at the clock. "Right. That too. I'll remember."

Once they'd left again, Dr. Jordan looked like he was trying to think of something to say but couldn't figure out what.

"So," Daniel said. "We were talking about, uh..." He stopped, thinking.

"Perhaps I shouldn't have spoken," Jordan said.

"No--it's...morality is always a valid concern," Daniel said. "I apologize for snapping at you. And it's not...exactly like that. It's not a line between...between what's right and what's necessary, and I'd like to think they overlap more than some people are willing to risk. But--"

"I don't mean to judge you," Jordan said.

"Yes, you do," he had to say. "You've been judging us since we showed up at Robert's funeral."

Jordan didn't deny it. "I wasn't trying to criticize or offend."

"Well, criticism is good for us, especially those of us who have been here longer," Daniel said, "so I apologize for being rude about it. I don't want you to get the wrong idea--one of the things we insist on is to keep an open mind. You're entitled to your opinion."

"I'll make sure I have all the necessary evidence next time, then," Jordan said, sounding like he'd back down for now but still wasn't completely sold on all arguments.

Daniel scratched the back of his head. "I understand what you're feeling about Dr. Gardner, and I'm sorry for that--as I said, we'll do our best. As for the other... I still don't understand why your people have such rigid and arbitrary dates for when a child becomes an adult and can make his own decisions."

"Arbitrary though they might seem," Jordan said, "we draw rigid lines in hopes that they'll protect us from falling down a slippery slope."

"Then you may be glad to hear that the line has been drawn here," Daniel said. "Believe me--you're not the only one who thinks the SGC made a mistake with me, but it's not one they can fix by sending me away to a civilian school now. You'll notice that there are no other underage aliens working here, but for me...it's already happened, and this is my choice."

"I'm sure it _is_ your choice," Jordan said. "But what if you discovered, eventually, that you wanted something else?"

"I can't imagine doing anything else," he said honestly.

"Because this is all you've known," Jordan said. "I wasn't trying to imply that you can't think for yourself, or even that you can't make good decisions in combat...but from what I hear, you weren't _given_ the chance to choose the way our people believe a child should be."

That was true, Daniel acknowledged silently, but, as far as he was concerned, it wasn't the SGC who had forced this choice on him. "You need to understand that, if the SGC hadn't let me do this, I would have gone off on my own, and I'd probably be dead by now. I was given a lot of choices; this was the only one I considered viable."

"I can think of other choices," Jordan said. When Daniel opened his mouth, he added, "But there are legal and moral justifications for your post here. I've said my piece. I'm sorry if it was out of line."

"I know you mean well, Doctor," Daniel said awkwardly, wondering for a fleeting moment if this was what it would have felt like if he'd had a teacher who wasn't also a colleague or someone who fought beside him. Was this what Robert had meant? Would Daniel have appreciated it more at the start, when he really had still been a child?

Jordan seemed to think for a moment, then said, almost apologetically, "Robert was very excited to have a skillful assistant, from what I could tell, but he must have had those same concerns."

"Yes," Daniel admitted. Robert had accepted him before anyone else but had also remembered, when others sometimes forgot, that he hadn't been an adult quite yet. He hadn't pushed the topic hard, the way Jordan was--the way Jordan might have from the start--but they'd argued about it almost until the day he'd died.

"He meant well, though, even if you might have argued with him. So do I."

"And so do SGC personnel, in everything we do. That's something the reports can't tell you."

"I'm sure you all do your best, and I don't claim I could do better," Jordan said. "But I'm glad I won't be one of the ones sitting in this mountain and making those decisions. You probably find it cowardly, that I'd disagree from a distance--"

"No," Daniel said. "We need people to see from all angles and say when they disagree, or we've lost already." He chewed his lip, then said, "You, uh, probably have a lot to think about." Jordan let out a short, rueful chuckle. "How about this--you've done a lot of reading and listening, so if you'll be here for a while yet, I'll show you some of the work we're doing. And you can see the archives, too, or whatever else you're curious about. Then, if you think of any questions..."

Jordan nodded and rose to his feet. "That sounds fine, Mr. Jackson. I'd appreciate it."

"That's Robert's desk," Daniel said first, because they'd been so horribly stiff with each other that he felt like he should extend some sort of an olive branch. "Or was. No one ever sits there anymore."

"Superstition or tribute?"

"Neither. Both. I don't know--maybe they just don't want to share an office with the...the weird alien kid."

"It's neater than I imagined," Jordan commented, wistfully, perhaps remembering another desk Robert had sat at once in another lab.

"Well, it certainly didn't used to be," Daniel assured him, sharing his first, brief smile with the other man before leading the way out. "Please, follow me--I'll give you the tour. We can start here in Nyan's office..."


	18. Collateral Damage

**_6 April 2001; Archaeology Office, SGC; 1000 hrs_ **

Daniel jiggled his foot on the floor and checked the clock again. He reminded himself that Teal'c's recruiting mission to Chulak didn't have a strict timetable, and that even though everyone quietly thought Teal'c should have been back by now, he could easily return tomorrow or on one of the days after, especially if he was having trouble getting to the meeting with the Jaffa named Rak'nor. In fact, if it was taking longer than expected, maybe it just meant the meeting was going so well that Teal'c was staying to work out more details.

He glanced to the side, where Robert's desk sat empty, with neat stacks of books on one side and a spillover of files on the other. If Robert had been there, he'd have told Daniel to stop fidgeting--Teal'c had been in worse trouble before and had always come out fine.

And speaking of the spillover of files...he pulled the first few onto his desk and went to work.

Daniel was in Dr. Reeve's office and had just handed in a stack of folders to be lost into the ether of reports with little military significance when Jack's voice yelled from down the hall, " _Daniel! Where are you?_ "

Grimacing, Daniel hurried back into his own office to find Jack, Sam, and Jacob standing in front of his desk. Jack was holding a reconstructed infant Goa'uld skeleton and looked like he was about to make it walk across the desk. "Jack, give Brutus to me right now!"

Jack looked up and carefully handed the Goa'uld fossil over.

"Brutus?" Jacob said, sounding like he was trying--not very hard--not to laugh.

"That's his name," Daniel said defensively as he took the baby Goa'uld skeleton and checked to make sure everything was still whole and in place. "What's going on?"

"We've got a problem," Jacob said more seriously. "Listen to this." He clicked something on one of the side computers, and the sounds of Goa'uld voices filtered forth.

"Is that Apophis?" Daniel said, frowning as he listened.

"And Heru-ur," Jacob said. "Thanks to Tanith, we intercepted this communication between them."

"It sounds like he still hasn't given up," Daniel said once the message ended. "He still wants an alliance. I thought Heru-ur had allied himself with the System Lords _against_ Apophis?"

"But if they work together," Jacob said, "Heru-ur and Apophis could have a very good chance at toppling the System Lords. We think Apophis is planning to meet Heru-ur and use him for that, and then deal with him after they're the only two System Lords left."

"Over a year ago, we were told that Heru-ur wanted to trade Klorel and Amaunet to Apophis for an alliance," Sam said. "Does he really have anything to offer now?"

"He's built up an impressive army since you guys hit him on Cimmeria," Jacob said. "Since then, he'd been laying low, gathering his troops and letting the shots fly over his head. Apophis has a big army on his own, but Heru-ur would help him significantly."

He clicked something on the screen, and a set of letters appeared.

"Ooh," Daniel said, leaning closer to see.

"You recognize the symbols," Selmak said, taking over and looking on with him.

"They're...almost Phoenician," Daniel said. "But I'd need...actually," he added, "this language looks similar to a translation I worked on a few months back. It's definitely Semitic and very close to what we know of Phoenician, I think."

"Do you speak Phoenician, Mr. Jackson?" Selmak said.

"Well, this isn't _exactly_ the same, but it's close enough to work with. I'm very familiar with that language family and its characteristics, and I'm fluent in several related languages," Daniel offered, moving to the bookshelf to find any Phoenician reference available. "And then this alphabet is the ancestor of a lot of writing systems, so that's not difficult."

"I think he said 'yes,'" Jack told Selmak.

"We believe it is a technical manual," Selmak said. "None of our Tok'ra linguists could translate it."

"I'm not surprised," Daniel said. "The Tok'ra left Earth centuries before hieroglyphs evolved into this kind of script, although that raises the question of how this script got into...space."

"It seems to have been left by a very sophisticated civilization," Selmak said. "You are aware that not all aliens left Earth with Ra. Perhaps the Tobin--the civilization from which this script originates--were advanced enough to leave this planet without a Stargate."

Daniel wondered how often things like that happened--there had been Egeria three thousand years ago and probably others before and since then that they'd never known about. Maybe _that_ was how English and other more modern Earth languages were getting out into the galaxy and they should stop blaming the Asgard for doing it all the time.

"Tobin?" Sam said, turning to Daniel.

He had to shake his head that he'd never heard of the Tobin civilization, then returned to looking at the transmission. "The Tobin civilization is believed to have left Earth thousands of years ago to settle in what is now known as the Tobin System," Selmak explained. "While they have been extinct for centuries, they also left the equivalent of a large mine field in space."

"Um, excuse my denseness," Jack interrupted, "but what does this have to do with...anything?"

"The hatred between Heru-ur and Apophis an old hostility," Selmak said leadingly.

"So if we can get them to fight each other...." Sam said.

"As we said, Heru-ur has amassed a strong army, and Apophis, as you know, controls all of Sokar's forces as well as his own. A war between them would kill or severely weaken both sides and return the balance of power to the System Lords."

"And what better place to crash and burn than in a mine field?" Jack said.

"It is also the closest they can find to 'neutral ground,'" Selmak said.

"I think I know what this says," Daniel spoke up. "Sort of. These are definitely numerals...so 'three toward blue, four toward...something else, three toward blue.'"

"Is the 'something else' red?" Selmak said.

"Um...it's not blue," Daniel offered, then opened his dictionary. "But notions of color are often difficult to translate across planets, because, for example, this word for 'blue' refers literally to a certain mineral found on Earth..."

"I think the 'something else' is red," Selmak interrupted more firmly.

"Oh," Daniel said. "So that really makes sense?"

"It does. These seem to be the instructions for a color-coded combination."

"Okay," Daniel said agreeably, and then reached for the mouse to see how long the entire technical manual was. "Oh, wow. Um. This is going to take some time to read. And I won't know what any of it actually means, so..."

"You can start now," Jacob suggested, "and finish on the way. There's a Tok'ra operative on the way to a planet in a _teltak_ now; we'll meet him there, take the ship, and fly to the Tobin System. The trip should take most of a day, and you just need to identify the part that's pertinent to our mission. Sam can take care of the calculations. As for--"

"Ah! Hold it," Jack snapped, remembering the last time they'd gotten on a Tok'ra _teltak_. "Just...stop. I've had just about enough about this Tok'ra 'explain along the way' crap. I wanna know exactly what we're dealing with here--and exactly what this mission _is_. Every mission detail you've got, right now, or we go nowhere!"

Jacob turned and raised his eyebrows at Jack. "I was going to tell you, Jack."

Jack deflated slightly. "Okay," he said. "Never mind."

"Are you sure you can do this?" Jacob said to Daniel.

"I can't be _sure_ , not if there's a time limit," Daniel admitted, "but with this language, I'm at least as likely as anyone else here to figure it out in time."

"That's a 'yes,'" Jack told Jacob.

"No, it's not," Daniel said.

Jack took Brutus away from him again and put it back down on the desk. "You start getting your books together. Jacob, start talking."

"How long does the trip take?" Daniel said, turning around to scan the shelves.

"About eighteen hours," Jacob said. "Why?"

He looked at his watch, then caught Sam's eye. "We'll need coffee," she said, and bent to pick the lock on his drawer until he batted her hands away and handed her his less-secret stash of instant coffee.

XXXXX

**_6 April 2001; Teltak; 1900 hrs_ **

Jack did not, in general, enjoy long trips without chairs on alien spaceships with nothing to do. He enjoyed them even less when those long trips were taken as part of a Tok'ra mission and involved the words ' _mine_ ,' ' _Phoenician_ ,' ' _reconfigure_ ,' and ' _explode_.'

To be fair, Daniel and Carter didn't look like they were having a lot of fun with that, either.

"Which direction is blue?" Carter said.

"Um," Daniel said.

"Never mind," she said. "Hopefully, it'll be more obvious once we see it. What we need to figure out now is how to translate the energy signature into the right combination to program the mine."

There was a longer pause, and then, "Um," Daniel repeated.

"Yeah, this is going to be a blast," Jacob muttered from where he sat at the controls.

"Hey," Jack said defensively, "you guys couldn't even read the alphabet. Give him a break."

"It's nothing against your team, Jack," Jacob said. "But this is going to be a tricky process--for me as well as Sam and Daniel. Once I transport the bomb onto this ship, I'm going to need all of my concentration just to keep us from exploding."

"Do you want me to try?" Jack offered, because he was a pretty good pilot himself,

But Jacob gave him an amused look and said, "No."

"Come on," Jack wheedled.

Jacob chuckled. "Let's complete the mission first. I'll let you fly home if you want."

"Oh! Can I fly home?" Daniel said, looking up from his work, suddenly eager.

"Read your book!" Jack ordered. With a grimace, Daniel turned back to figuring out how to stop a mine from killing them and convince it to go kill a Goa'uld instead.

"Boys and their toys," Carter said, just loud enough to be heard and just quiet enough that it wasn't necessarily directed at her superior officer.

"Oh, please," Daniel scoffed, pushing up his glasses as he squinted at his laptop, "you've got more toys in your lab than any man on base. And don't pretend you wouldn't want to learn how to fly a _teltak_ , too."

"I'd rather have a _hatak_ ," she said.

"And _I'd_ rather have a way to reprogram the mine we're ringing onto this ship!" Jack said, exasperated. "If you two would stop yapping away over there, maybe--"

"Got it," Daniel said, turning the laptop around. "I think this is the conversion."

"I'm almost done with the first part--here, write this down..." she answered, taking a hand off her laptop to start futzing with Daniel's.

Jack sighed. "I don't get how geek minds work," he complained more quietly to Jacob. "It's like they go faster the more things they're trying to think about at once."

"I'm not sure all geeks work the same way, Jack," Jacob said.

"Great," Jack said. "So I've just got the special geeks."

...x...

"Jacob," Jack said once he'd taken a nap and was _still_ left with nothing to do but drift through hyperspace and hope that they'd get the bomb instructions translated, "you said there's a Tok'ra operative on Apophis's ship, right?"

"That's right," Jacob said, not looking away from the controls. "He'll broadcast the signal that will attract the mine, and when it detonates on Apophis's mothership, Apophis will assume Heru-ur attacked him."

"And then it's war."

"And then it's war," Jacob confirmed.

"So what happens to your operative?" Jack said.

Jacob glanced at him. "Thought you didn't like the Tok'ra."

Quashing a sudden surge of indignation at the suggestion that his dislike for Tok'ra politics might mean he wanted one of them to die on a suicide mission, Jack said, "Well, where I come from we don't leave our people to get blown up if we can help it, no matter how aggravating they can be."

There was a pause, and then Selmak turned to answer, "Nor do the Tok'ra, Colonel O'Neill, unless it is unavoidable. In this case, our operative will attempt to escape by means of _udajeet_ or _teltak_ after the beacon has been activated and then fly back to Vorash or, if necessary, meet with us on a nearby moon and return with us."

"Ah," Jack said.

"I haven't forgotten where I'm from," Jacob said stiffly. "But in case you hadn't noticed, this mission could take out both Apophis _and_ Heru-ur. That cannot be compromised."

"Yeah, well," Jack said, "you can't blame us for thinking it. The Tok'ra have some interesting ideas about what unavoidable losses are."

He waited for one of them--either of them--to yell at him, but a closer look showed that they were doing one of those internal-dialogue things. Finally, Jacob said, "The Tok'ra have been around a lot longer than the SGC, Jack."

"That's bull," Jack snapped. "The definition of a salvageable situation doesn't change because you're older."

" _You_ should talk about responsible action and acceptable risks," Jacob said.

Taken aback, Jack said, "What?" Jacob didn't answer. "No, what?"

Finally, setting something on the bridge and turning in his chair to face Jack, Jacob said, "Sam told me about that incident you had with the Replicators last year."

Jack raised his eyebrows, because he remembered winning that fight. "What about that?"

"She says Thor didn't want to beam off his ship to save himself because it'd risk infesting Earth, but you did it, anyway."

"And we saved Thor's life," Jack said, "which then allowed us to save Thor's _planet_. Where's the bad part in all this again?"

"You saved Thor and yourselves," Jacob said, "and don't get me wrong. I'm happy you're alive. But you _knew_ the Asgard had gotten themselves infected with Replicators, which was what led them to allies like Earth, and you still let a load of them beam into the SGC."

"We won," Jack said. "We had better weapons than the Asgard did, and I'm sure someone set a self-destruct anyway, in case the Replicators were uncontrollable. And now we're alive to help you on this mission of yours today."

Jacob nodded. "I get that. But would it have been worth it to have the SGC autodestruct on the chance that three of you and Thor would make it back safe?"

"You do realize that's your daughter's life you're talking about," Jack said.

"Yeah, I realize that. But you can't blame the Tok'ra for thinking the SGC has some interesting ideas about what an acceptable risk is. We're all for saving the individual, but sometimes there's a bigger picture to think about. I'm not sure you guys have fully grasped how _big_ that picture is yet."

"Excuse me?" Jack said.

" _Everyone_ is expendable when we're facing something as big as this," Jacob said. "Both of us have faced losses in battle situations before. No one wants to leave anyone behind, but if it's one man dead in exchange for...for killing a System Lord, say, then we have to make a choice."

No choice was easy when the picture was this big, and Jack _knew_ that, dammit, but it didn't mean he had to like the way the Tok'ra forgot about the little pictures when they looked at the big one.

"What if Sam was the one dying?" Jack said, and he meant that sacrificing Carter would mean sacrificing a load of knowledge and skill that they couldn't afford to lose, but even pissed off, he winced when he heard it come out of his mouth, because that wasn't what Jacob was going to hear. It wasn't a fair question to ask her father.

Jacob scowled. "That's why I wouldn't've been assigned to be her commanding officer. And maybe that's part of the problem--you've all got a four-man blind spot called SG-1."

"So now I can't handle my team right, that's what you're saying?"

"Jack, I'm _glad_ you're the ones who ended up on that Replicator ship. If it had been anyone else, George might have ordered the ship blown out of the sky before you had a chance to get out. Obviously, you succeeded, but if he'd given that order, as much as I hate to say it, it would've been a good call."

"Jacob?" Daniel said, stepping out from behind the cargo hold's doors before the argument could continue. "How long until we get to the Tobin System?"

Looking over his shoulder, Jacob let out a slow breath and said, "Another two hours, Danny. You just make sure you understand how that mine works."

"I think we've almost got it, as much as we can without an actual mine," Daniel said. "But...uh, I was thinking that if this works, it'll help Teal'c, too, right? He's recruiting on Chulak right now, and...and if we get Apophis killed, they'll have to believe he's not a god."

"Hopefully, it'll help in a lot of ways," Jacob said. "Go back and help Sam, all right?"

Daniel nodded and disappeared into the cargo hold again.

A moment later, his head reappeared, and he said, "Teal'c could just have been late coming back. I mean, General Hammond will tell him where we are, right? He might even be back already."

"I'm sure Teal'c's fine," Jack said. "He can take care of himself. Come on, two hours--get back to work."

Once the chatter of geeks at work was heard again, Jack added quietly, "A little blind spot of his saved us on Netu, including you."

Just as quietly, Jacob answered, "You don't think I know that? You all do a good job of climbing out of messes, and we are all grateful. And I know, any screw-ups on this mission and we could all die. I wouldn't have brought your kid on--or you or Sam--if we didn't need them. But--"

"Daniel would hold the bomb in his own hands if he thought it would help kill Apophis, just like any of us," Jack said. "That's not the issue. I've just got a problem with the fact that every other Tok'ra mission seems to involve dying at some point."

"We're not planning on dying out here, and neither is the operative on Apophis's ship," Jacob said. "If there's a way off, he'll get to it. SG-1 isn't the only one that can pull off daring escapes. Don't count us out just because you only know about our failures--we don't report every success to the SGC any more than you report all of your successes to us. Now, could you stop talking and let me fly?"

Jack held up his hands and went to bother Carter and Daniel in the cargo hold instead.

"So, you know what to do?" Jack said, plopping down next to the two of them on the floor.

"There aren't any diagrams, sir," Carter said, "so we're having some difficulties with the specifics of the interface, but we think we've figured out the right combinations--there's one to override its current programming, and then another to reset it to do what we want it to."

"You're sure you've got it right?" Jack said, directed at Daniel.

"Nope," Daniel said, still reading.

"Ah...okay," Jack said. "Isn't that a problem?"

"Could be," Daniel said, dropping one book only to pick up another.

Jack looked at Carter, who explained dryly, "Translations aren't an exact science, sir."

"It's a technical manual," Jack said. "That's pretty exact."

Finally, Daniel looked up to say, "It's a technical manual from an advanced civilization, and since Phoenician references from Earth were written by people who didn't have electrical circuits, much less whatever this word is"--he pointed to a jumble of squiggles on his laptop screen--"I'm finding it an inexact process."

"Hopefully," Carter said, "we'll be able to fill in some blanks once we see the mine for ourselves. There's supposed to be a panel on the interface with some information or instructions."

"Or something," Daniel said, pointing to another squiggle.

"We'll get it, sir," Carter said. "Daniel, can you read that back out to me?"

"Uh...four to the blue, one to the red, and two to the blue."

She chewed her lip. "This calculation is a little off. I'm not coming out with whole numbers, which is not unexpected, but--"

"It states very clearly that only entire turns of the whatever-you-turn will be accepted, and that _should_ be one of the acceptable frequencies," Daniel said. "Maybe we just have to round it to the nearest number."

"Question is," she muttered, "do we round it to the _nearest_ number, or the largest whole number, or the next highest whole number if there's a fraction left over?"

"Um," Daniel said.

"It doesn't mention rounding, does it," she said.

"No," Daniel said.

Jack sighed and sat back against the wall. He really hated having nothing to do.

...x...

Eighteen hours in a cargo ship with nothing to do but watch his kids work or argue with a Tok'ra meant that Jack was probably more relieved than he should have been when Jacob announced, "We're dropping out of hyperspace near the minefield in three...two..."

"Oh, no!" Daniel said as they shuddered to a near-halt.

"What happened?" Jacob said, alarmed. "Everyone okay?"

"I lost my page," Daniel said dejectedly and started flipping through his dictionary again.

"Are you kidding me?" Jacob said, relaxing and scowling all at once.

"No, I found it, it's okay," Daniel assured him.

Jack looked outside, and at first all he could see was little specks of light from stars. Then he realized that looked very wrong to be stars, and he said, "Whoa. Those are _all_ mines?"

"It's not much of a defense system if they're easy to dodge," Jacob said grimly. "Okay, I've got a lock on one of them. Clear the rings!" To Daniel's visible dismay, Jack helped Carter sweep aside a few reference materials from the ring platform. "Now, Sam!"

Carter stood and activated the ring transporter, and a giant, floating mine appeared in their cargo hold. Jack thought it looked like a beach ball, except bigger and gray and metallic and more likely to kill them all.

"Get on it," Jacob ordered.

Jack bent cautiously to look at the mine as Daniel scampered to his feet and walked in a circle around it. "Oh, no," Daniel said again.

"Stick a bookmark in it, Daniel!" Jacob said, exasperated.

"That's--what? No, I was hoping the instructions here would help, but--"

"You don't recognize the symbols?"

"What symbols?" Daniel said.

Jacob started to turn around, then faced his controls again. "There should be a panel that opens and allows access to the inside. Try underneath."

"I think there's something there," Carter said, dropping to her hands and knees to look. "Dad, can you raise the bomb any higher?" She flipped onto her back and waited until there was enough space to slide under. "It looks like a circle with a cross in it," she finally said.

Daniel had his nose buried in his book. "Daniel?" Jack said.

"It could be that," he said, not looking up.

"What do I do?" Carter said.

"I'm pretty sure you touch it," Jacob said, "but the last time a Tok'ra was sent to attempt this, they were never heard from again."

Irritated as much as he was worried, Jack snapped, "Well, that's news!"

"Uh...that might be it," Daniel said. "The touching the _teth_ thing."

"Might?" Carter echoed.

Daniel looked up briefly. "I don't--I don't know. It doesn't say for sure, but it could be."

"Okay," she said, taking a deep breath and reaching up.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Daniel said frantically. "Um...I'm not sure!"

"Daniel!" Carter said. "Dad?"

"Someone say something!" Jack said.

"Dad?" she repeated, a finger hovering near the bottom of the mine. "Daniel?"

"Just touch it!" Jacob said.

"I'm sure, I'm sure!" Daniel said, obviously lying. "That must be it!"

She touched the panel, and it swung open. Jack watched for a moment, bracing himself, though he didn't know where he thought he was going to run if it blew. "Okay," Carter said when they were still alive several seconds later. "Good. Looks like that did it."

"Don't touch it anywhere but inside the opening," Jacob ordered as Daniel dropped to his back and slid under with Carter, leaving Jack with the uncomfortable view of two of his team's legs sticking out from under a giant, floating bomb.

"All right, first we have to clear these," Daniel's voice said. Jack squatted and turned his head to see them both staring at the bottom of the bomb, Daniel's finger pointing at something on the panel. "Those are the frequencies it responds to."

"That should be the easy part," Carter said. "Read me the combination."

"Three to the blue," Daniel said.

"Which way is blue?"

"I still don't know, Sam. It doesn't say."

With a grimace, she reached up and twisted sharply. "Okay," she said. "Clockwise is blue. That's one..." She twisted it twice more.

"Four to the red," Daniel said, watching her work. "Three to the blue."

A buzzer sounded. "Is that a good sound?" Carter said. Before Daniel could answer, the bomb began to dip lower. "Uh, Dad?" she said, lowering her hand. Daniel started to inch his way out, then quickly rolled the rest of the way when the bomb continued to descend instead of rising back up.

"Jacob?" Jack said, standing up. The mine was practically on top of Carter now, and he grabbed her by the ankles to pull her out. "Jacob!"

"I know! I have a problem here," Jacob said, not looking away. Jack craned his neck past the bomb, toward the bridge, and saw a mine approaching them from outside. He pressed himself against bulkhead of the cargo hold as their own mine floated slowly toward them...and then it backed away. "Okay," Jacob said, sounding relieved.

"Nice flying, Jacob," Jack said sarcastically, waiting until the bomb was back in position for Daniel and Carter to wriggle their way under it again before he moved to join the Tok'ra at the bridge.

"Thanks," Jacob said, unperturbed. "Someone's coming--I have to cloak the ship." As Jack watched, a hyperspace window opened briefly for a mothership to drop out. "It's Apophis," Jacob said grimly. "If he's here, Heru-ur's going to arrive any minute." A buzzer sounded from the direction of the mine. "Maybe they've got it. Sam, Daniel, how much longer do you need?"

"This is very, very bad," Daniel was saying.

Jack tried very, very hard to find a good way to interpret that.

"Dad?" Carter added. "We may need Selmak's help here."

"All right," Jacob said, standing up. "Jack, you're going to have to take the stick."

"What?" Jack said, alarmed and excited at once. "Really?"

A headset was pushed into his hand. "Keep the mine center-circle," Jacob said as Jack put the headset on, blinking to let his sight adjust to seeing one thing out of his left eye and something else out of his right. "And avoid hitting anything out there."

"Okay," Jack said, sitting in the pilot's seat and taking the controls with absolutely no idea how to make anything move. Then his hand pressed down slightly on something, and the ship suddenly dropped a few feet. "Whoa! Whoa, whoa!" he said, tweaking the controls one way and then another until he'd figured out which way was which.

"Jack," Daniel said nervously. "Jack Jack Jack..."

"I'm cool," Jack assured them, pulling the ship carefully back up, so the mine settled back into place. "I'm all right. 'S not so easy," he allowed.

He stopped listening to the other three discussing the mine, then--the headset was making him dizzy enough with the way its display expanded in three dimensions when the mine floated too high, and he'd have sworn that the controls responded to his thoughts until he tried taking his hands off and found out he was wrong. And then he heard Daniel say, "We have five minutes to enter the right combination, or the mine will explode."

Good times.

"More like four and a half now," Daniel added.

And speaking of exploding mines, the one in their ship started to break left--or right--or in one direction, and Jack stopped listening to the argument to concentrate on keeping them alive long enough for someone to figure it out.

"How's it going?" Jack asked once he was decently sure he was getting the hang of it enough that they wouldn't crash into anything.

"Three minutes and counting to detonation, sir," Carter said. "It's a failsafe mechanism--we must have the combination wrong somehow."

"Try it again," Daniel said.

"Are you sure--"

"Yes, that's what it says!"

"Hey, guys!" Jacob called. They fell silent, and the sound of Goa'uld filtered through the speakers. "Heru-ur's here. Hurry up--they're talking over their deal..."

"And...?" Jack prompted.

"Apophis wants to know what Heru-ur will give him in exchange for the alliance," Jacob said. "Heru-ur says that, as a token of his honor, he's offering a gift. He..." He stopped.

"What?"

"He's offering Teal'c," Jacob said.

There was a shifting sound, and then Daniel said, "But Teal'c's on Chulak."

"Apparently not," Jack said, thinking fast. If Heru-ur was telling the truth, Teal'c was on one of those ships, and they had to get him out before the Goa'ulds started fighting each other. More importantly, they had to get him off before Apophis got his snaky claws on him--dying would be more merciful than that.

"He's thinking it over," Jacob said. "If Apophis accepts the deal, the transfer will take place. We have to get the mine going before that can happen.

"Ah, dammit!" Carter said. "This isn't working! We've got less than a minute. Daniel, Teal'c later--what do we do now?"

" _Yi shay,_ " Daniel swore. Jack glanced back quickly to see him paging frantically through his book. "Okay, look, these are the numerals. It's written like you're counting--so this is one, two, three--"

"Wait, wait--what about zero? Why didn't you say zero?"

"What? I don't... I don't think the Phoenician number system has a zero--"

"What if the Tobins added it?" Jacob said.

"Inventing technology with this level of sophistication would require a zero," Carter said.

"Why?" Daniel said.

"Just trust me--it's a math thing. Just...shift everything down one; we've been off this whole time. Come on, thirty seconds..."

"Uh..." Daniel said, "Uh...uh, the...two to the blue. Three to the red, two to the blue."

Nothing happened.

"That's it!" Daniel said, sighing audibly. "It's reset. Wow, I almost killed us all. Oops."

"Okay," Carter said. "I need to redo this frequency calculation if we were off the whole time, but we should have it in about a minute."

As rustling sounded in the cargo hold again, Jack said quietly, "You know what'll happen to Teal'c if Apophis gets a hold of him."

"Anything we do in attempting a rescue would give us away," Jacob answered.

"So?"

"You know as well as I do that bigger things are at stake here. This mission cannot be compromised--I'm sorry, Colonel, but Teal'c is expendable."

Jack forced himself to loosen his grip on the controls before he got them destroyed swerving off into something. _Expendable_. Before he could say anything in answer, though, Carter announced, "We're done."

"I have to deploy," Jacob said. Rings activated from behind, and footsteps announced Carter and Daniel's arrival at the bridge. From the speaker, Apophis's voice came again, followed by Heru-ur's. "Apophis has agreed to the alliance," Jacob translated.

"And the exchange of Teal'c," Daniel said. "Jacob. We can't let that happen."

"Dad," Carter said, "Teal'c practically carried you out of Netu. You _owe_ him. We all do."

Jacob didn't answer right away. Neither did Selmak. Jack hoped that meant he was wavering.

"Unless someone gives me a good way to do it without risking the mission," Jacob finally said, "there's nothing I can do. Even putting the mission aside, we're in a cargo ship. Teal'c's inside a heavily fortified and well-guarded mothership."

"We've been in worse situations," Jack said.

He could almost hear Teal'c pointing out, _'Not that I can recall, O'Neill.'_

"With better luck," Jacob corrected. "Give me a plan, Jack, or my hands are tied."

Then, Daniel stepped forward and pointed out the window, where a stream of white light was connecting both ships. "Look--rings! That must be--"

"--how they're transporting Teal'c," Carter said. "We can intercept the matter stream and pick up Teal'c as--"

The matter stream flickered out. "It's too late," Daniel said, sounding stunned.

"We have to go back for him," Jack said, starting to push their ship toward the mine field. They lurched forward.

"Give me that," Jacob snapped. "What are you going to do for Teal'c, besides getting us all killed limping through a mine field?"

"You fly it, then!" Jack said, standing and handing the controls over. "But we have to do _something_!"

"The mine," Carter said suddenly. "It's heading for Apophis's ship."

Jack turned to look out the window and saw one of the mines flying unerringly toward the familiar-looking pyramidal mothership. "Our operative must have succeeded," Jacob said as the mine struck the shield of Apophis's mothership and exploded futilely. "We need to get out of here before the whole mine field goes nuts."

" _Kree Heru-ur!_ " Apophis's voice said. " _Shel pak herak Apophis!_ "

"He fell for it," Daniel said. "Apophis is going to attack--maybe...maybe while they're fighting each other, we can find a way to get to Teal'c..."

"Oh my god," Carter said. Daniel's voice trailed off.

One mothership, and then several more--nine, ten, by Jack's count--shimmered into place around Apophis's mothership. "That's not possible," Jacob said. "The Goa'uld have never been able to cloak an entire mothership before, let alone a fleet!"

"Apparently, it's possible," Jack said. He was so fixated on the ships that he didn't notice they were backing away until he realized they were out of the minefield.

And then Heru-ur's ship erupted in a fireball. Jack winced reflexively as a swarm of mines flew toward Apophis's ship, but the central mothership turned around and fled while the others gathered in front of it to take the brunt of the attack. "They're protecting Apophis's ship," Carter realized. As they watched, ten motherships slowly crumbled to pieces until a hyperspace window opened to allow Apophis to escape.

"How," Daniel said lowly, fingers clenched around the back of Jacob's chair, "did Apophis expand his power enough to be able designate ten motherships as expendable?"

"Teal'c is still alive," Carter said. "We can...we can still... There's still a chance."

Jack glanced over. She was staring at the point where Apophis had entered hyperspace. Daniel wouldn't meet his eyes.

Suddenly, Jacob said, "The sensors are picking up a glider that escaped from Heru-ur's ship before it exploded."

"Heru-ur himself?" Daniel suggested.

"We can't let him get away. _Onak sha kree!_ " Jacob barked. " _Shel Goa'uld?_ "

Over the radio, another voice answered, _"Goach sha kree, lo Goa'uld."_

Jack frowned. The words sounded familiar to him, but he had no idea why until Jacob said, "That's the Tok'ra password we taught the SGC. This is Jacob Carter," he added into the speaker. "Identify yourself."

_"My name is Rak'nor,"_ the voice answered.

Daniel leaned forward. "That's the one Teal'c was going to meet."

_"I am the Jaffa who helped Teal'c escape,"_ Rak'nor continued.

"How do we know that?" Jack said, leaning close to the speaker.

They stood frozen for several moments, waiting for someone to answer them, and then, a familiar voice said, _"It is good to hear your voice, O'Neill."_

Jack let his breath out slowly, determined to keep his cool until they were out of the minefield. "Glad you could make it, Teal'c," he said calmly.

_"As am I,"_ Teal'c answered.

XXXXX

**_7 April 2001; Teltak; 1800 hrs_ **

Rak'nor stood silently to one side while they eased Teal'c onto the most comfortable place they could make in their chair-less, furniture-less cargo ship. Carter finally finished fussing and fell asleep sitting against the bulkhead while watching Teal'c go into _kelno'reem_ to finish healing. Daniel joined her in their caffeine crash--he'd fallen asleep in the middle of picking up his books and was curled up on the ring platform, clutching an enormous dictionary like a teddy bear.

Once a course home had been plotted and Teal'c didn't seem in danger of dying, Jack turned to the other Jaffa and said, "What happened?"

"Heru-ur wished to give Apophis the _shol'va_ as a gift--" Rak'nor started.

"Yeah, we know that part," Jack interrupted. "Here's what I don't get. Teal'c started off trying to talk to some guy named Rak'nor on Chulak, and then Teal'c ended up being tortured most of the way to death on Heru-ur's ship, and Rak'nor just happened to be there." He looked around the ship facetiously. "Anyone else find that odd?"

"I...betrayed him on Chulak," Rak'nor said. "You are correct, Colonel O'Neill."

Jack glanced at Jacob, who was still sitting at the controls, watching them, then walked to Daniel's pile of equipment and pulled out a zat gun. "Tell me why I shouldn't shoot you right here and now."

"I did not believe Teal'c's words then," the younger Jaffa said, looking wary but standing his ground. "But once I knew them to be the truth, I stopped Terak from sending him to Apophis."

"So you fixed the mess that you made to begin with," Jack said, nodding. "Why should I believe you're telling the truth?"

"My father followed Bra'tac," Rak'nor said. "I watched him die fighting the Goa'uld, and I began to believe he was wrong, that the Goa'uld truly were gods. I believed I was carrying out the will of the gods by capturing the _shol'va_. But then...I watched Teal'c endure such pain, and I watched a Goa'uld fail to break him... How can they be gods?"

"If they were gods," Jacob said, standing up, "you wouldn't think they'd need to resort to torture to get people to believe them. And if they did, the least you'd expect is that they'd succeed."

Rak'nor nodded slowly. "Yes."

"I think you can put that down, Colonel," Jacob added, nodding to the zat.

Jack met Rak'nor's gaze and noticed for the first time how young the Jaffa was--not young in the way that Teal'c was in his prime, but young enough to have had a father as a high-ranking soldier in recent times. Thirty, forty years old, maybe even less. Daniel's age, in Jaffa years.

Now, Rak'nor spread his arms and lowered himself to one knee. Jack retracted the zat and set it back down. "We're not gods, either," Jack said. "Just like Bra'tac isn't and your father wasn't. We're not promising you won't die if you join us. But we _can_ promise you'll be working to free other Jaffa from slavery."

Suddenly, Rak'nor's head whipped toward Jacob. "You are a Goa'uld," he said in wonder and not a little apprehension.

Jacob bowed his head, and when he raised it, his eyes glowed. "I am Selmak of the Tok'ra. You were speaking before to my host, Jacob Carter. Surely you have heard of us--Teal'c told you one of our passwords."

"I had heard...legends," Rak'nor said. He glanced at Teal'c's still form. "And there were rumors that there were Tok'ra fighting on the side of the Jaffa traitors--"

"Ah!" Jack said, holding up a finger. "You're going to want to pick a different word while you're on our ship."

"The rebels," Rak'nor amended. "The free. I simply had not believed there could truly be a Goa'uld who so opposed the System Lords."

"One of them was on Apophis's ship," Jack told him. "That Tok'ra is the reason our bomb hit him at all."

"The Tok'ra and those two," Jacob added, pointing to Carter and Daniel, both still asleep. Jack grabbed Daniel under the arms and dragged him off the ring platform in case it activated accidentally, making him stir groggily. "Unblended humans with nothing but brains and books."

Rak'nor looked doubtfully at the admittedly puny-looking group who'd gotten Heru-ur killed. "But the gods have told us that--"

"Yeah," Jack interrupted. "You're going to have to get used to that whole...not listening to the Goa'uld. Seriously, talk to the Tok'ra--a few conversations with them, and you'll _know_ they're not gods; they're just people with different ideas." Rak'nor looked up at him and Jacob, confused. "For cryin' out loud, get up. It's uncomfortable enough in here without being on your knees."

"Not gods," Daniel mumbled, yawning and then crawling toward Teal'c and Carter to slump back to sleep.

Jacob shook his head but said, "What he means is 'no bowing.' No kneeling, no groveling, not with us. You'd better get used to it."

"Apophis killed my whole family," Rak'nor said as he rose to his feet. "I thought it was my father's punishment for defying his god's will."

"That was fear," Jacob said. "The Goa'uld are starting to realize how dangerous the Jaffa Rebellion could be to them, so they'll crush anyone who opposes them as quickly as possible."

"However," Selmak said, appearing suddenly, "we cannot forget that Apophis is now an even greater threat than before. He will easily absorb Heru-ur's forces and become more powerful than any of the System Lords. We cannot defeat them by faith alone, but they _can_ be killed like any other being, as you saw Heru-ur killed today."

"The point is," Jack said, "the Goa'uld are just people who use lies and fancy technology to pretend they're gods. But they're not, which means the Jaffa are being enslaved for a lie, and if you stick with them, you're helping them do that to your own people."

"Perhaps they are not gods," Rak'nor said. "But their power is very real."

Jack picked up a gun. "So is this," he said. "They still die if you shoot them."

"And having the power to rule does not make it right to do so," Selmak added. "If you believe the Goa'uld are right simply because they have better weapons than the people they slaughter, you may as well stay on their side, not ours."

"I do not need to be convinced," Rak'nor said, looking at his feet. "Not anymore."

"But you need to understand," Selmak said. "You are young, Rak'nor. You cannot turn on your god in a day and forget all you learned before. Stand with us--the Tau'ri, the Tok'ra, and your brothers the free Jaffa--and see it for yourself."

"I will," Rak'nor said, then turned to Jack with a fist on his chest. "I am sorry, Colonel O'Neill, to you and to Teal'c. My life is in your hands."

"Nope," Jack said. "Your life is yours. That's how this works."

...x...

Daniel walked into the bridge later, rubbing his eyes. "Teal'c will be fine," he said. "He was awake for a few minutes."

"Told you he'd be okay," Jack said.

At that, Daniel's eyes flicked toward Rak'nor, but he didn't say anything directly about the circumstances that had almost killed Teal'c. "You were a Serpent Guard," he said flatly, pointing to Rak'nor's forehead. "Well, of course--Chulak. Bra'tac said you served with Apophis. Did you burn the brand off to fool Teal'c, or did Heru-ur do it to give you a different brand?"

"Neither," Rak'nor said, though he looked unsettled at the frank assessment. "My father burned it off, believing we were free. But I did use that to make Teal'c believe I had joined his cause."

Daniel crossed his arms and looked at Jack. "He's with us now," Jack said. "He just needed to be convinced about the god thing."

"You're convinced now?" Daniel said to Rak'nor.

"I...I am," Rak'nor said. "I understand now that the Goa'uld are not gods."

"Teal'c says to forgive you," Daniel said grudgingly. "He doesn't need to tell me that very often, so I suppose I should. And many Abydons, even those who witnessed Ra's death, still believe in the gods. It's not so easy to erase that much history, yes?"

"Yes," Rak'nor said.

"Is it true that Master Bra'tac is dead?"

Jack sat up straight. That was news to him. "What's this?" he said. "Bra'tac?"

"He is not," Rak'nor said. "Or if he is, I do not know of it. Terak said that to Teal'c, hoping it would break him, but it was a lie."

"That's what Teal'c thought, but I just wanted to make sure," Daniel said, and then turned to the window and switched mental gears. "Can I learn how to fly this?"

"We're in hyperspace now," Jacob said patiently. "Not much flying to do."

"I don't suppose we could all have a flying lesson before we get back to Earth," Daniel said.

With a short laugh, Jacob said, "You suppose right. I can show you what everything is, but manual navigation systems lock when we're in hyperspace. See? No hands." He stood.

"Why do the controls lock?" Daniel said, eagerly taking Jacob's place at the controls.

"Think about what would happen if you forced your ship out of hyperspace," Jacob said, shaking his head. "As soon as part of it left the subspace window, it would slow back to sublight velocity, while the rest of the ship kept going at hyperspeed."

As he touched one of the controls, Daniel said, "I didn't know subspace worked like that."

"Do you know how subspace works at all?" Jack pointed out while Rak'nor went back to silence.

"Well, that's a little simplistic," Jacob admitted. "But a Tok'ra tried that once, centuries ago, and we never heard from her again."

"But it's locked now, right?"

"It's locked," Jacob assured him.

"Do you think you and Teal'c could teach us sometime, though, if you're not busy?" Daniel said. "I mean, what if we end up having to fly one of these again and Teal'c is occupied--we all need to know how to use the controls, right?"

Jacob gave him a smile somewhere between amused and indulgent. "We'll see."

"I should just finish teaching you how to drive a car," Jack commented as Daniel stood up and looked closely at the controls. "Maybe you'd be less excited to fly a cargo ship, then."

"It's a practical concern," Daniel insisted. "And Sam taught Teal'c to drive a car; I don't see why I can't do it, too. I'd like to see more of your planet than the SGC and a couple of houses."

"You saw Cairo," Jack offered.

"Doesn't count; I was distracted by blood loss and the Goa'uld trying to kill us," Daniel said easily. "How much longer until we're back on Earth?"

"Nine hours, give or take," Jacob said while Rak'nor blinked, looking bemused at the rapid-fire questions. "Why?"

Daniel sobered. "What happens then?"

"Go back to work and keep tabs on Apophis," Jacob said. "For all this mission should be counted a failure, there are still three Tok'ra operatives in Apophis's camp. We don't know if some of them were on the motherships that were just destroyed, but one of them was definitely on the main ship, the one that escaped. Hopefully, with his help and Tanith's, we'll continue to gather intelligence."

"I have a question," Jack said, raising his hand. "Didn't you say Heru-ur and Apophis's armies together could probably topple the System Lords?"

"I did say that," Jacob said.

"And isn't Apophis now in control of both those armies?"

"Apophis will need some time to take Heru-ur's troops," Rak'nor spoke up. "The Jaffa may believe they are gods, but even so, we do not change allegiance so quickly and with no reason. I joined Heru-ur only once I believed Apophis had fallen to Sokar."

Jacob nodded. "If we take into account the time it'll take for word of Heru-ur's death to spread, and the fact that Apophis _did_ lose about ten warships today, then we may have bought ourselves a little time to prepare."

"And I will return to gather troops within those armies," Rak'nor said. "There will not be enough to defeat Apophis, but the rebellion is growing in strength on Chulak. If we can cause dissent in his ranks..."

"Can't hurt," Jack agreed. "But be careful out there. Find Bra'tac if you can and stick with him--he's managed to survive three and a half years of recruiting rebels."

"Won't the other System Lords hear of this?" Daniel said. "Surely they'd work together if they thought they were on the brink of destruction by Apophis."

"It takes a lot to bring the System Lords together, Daniel," Jacob said. "But...if they realize how bad the situation's gotten, they might do it. If they do, I don't anticipate it would last any longer than necessary to get rid of Apophis, but it's something we'd have to keep a close eye on. A true alliance of System Lords isn't much better than a single powerful Goa'uld."

"Is there anything _we_ can do?" Jack said.

"From Earth?" Jacob said. "Not likely--not about Apophis, anyway. Keep doing what you're doing, don't get killed, and be ready. Because if he takes on the System Lords and wins, you can guess who he's coming after first."


	19. Indirect Orders

**_17 April 2001; P31-4X8; 1100 hrs_ **

Daniel ran after Sam through the system of tunnels. So far, it seemed that the Jaffa scouting party they'd met hadn't discovered this place before them. Jack was insisting that they were almost there, that any minute they'd come out and see the 'gate.

And then light appeared--an exit. "There," Jack whispered, his voice echoing on the rock. "The 'gate should be just beyond there. Carter, get to the DHD--we'll cover you."

"Stop!" Teal'c hissed from behind. Daniel froze in place, as did the others. "Voices."

Daniel strained his ears in the sudden hush, and, sure enough, he could just barely hear an order being called out in the open land ahead of them. "Someone's waiting for us at the 'gate," Sam whispered.

' _Fall back,_ ' Jack signaled, but before they could move, the sound of footsteps came from one of the winding tunnels from which they'd come. "No! Never mind," he whispered. Daniel stopped in his tracks and turned around to face him again. "Keep coming this way--who's got a grenade left? Carter, here... Move out as soon as you hear them go off."

Inching along, pressing himself against the wall, Daniel gripped his _zat'nik'tel_ and hoped they'd get out into the light before they had to try shooting anyone. From ahead, he heard the sound of a pin dropping, and then, "Down!" Sam said, turning to push his head down and cover him as well as she could with her body.

"Now!" Jack called, running out even as twin explosions sounded.

Daniel emerged into dim light just as the first of the Jaffa began to recover from the blast, and he barely had time to count three, maybe four figures still standing before Teal'c followed him out and turned to fire on the men approaching from behind. Daniel stayed pressed against the wall, raising his gun to shoot as soon as he was sure he wouldn't hit Jack, and saw Sam crouched beside the DHD, raising her head every few seconds to hit another glyph.

One of the Jaffa in the open fell to Daniel's zat, and Jack's gun took the other two. "Go, go!" Jack ordered, turning around to help Teal'c. "Everyone back to the 'gate!"

The Stargate _kawhooshed_ to life. _"GDO sent,"_ Sam's voice said through the radio, but then she turned around and ducked back under the DHD as another team of Jaffa emerged from behind the 'gate. _"SGC,"_ she continued, _"this is SG-1. We're under fire!"_

_"Colonel O'Neill, this is General Hammond,"_ another voice said as they made their way back to the 'gate, a line of Jaffa approaching from behind them and another from ahead. _"Your status?"_

Jack dropped to the ground to duck a staff blast. Daniel squeezed his trigger over and over until his zat hit the one who'd shot it as Jack radioed back, "We're pinned down. Carter was able to dial the 'gate. We're trying to get clear to come through."

Sam rose over the top of the DHD and fired at the approaching soldiers. "We have to go now!" she yelled.

Daniel ran out from behind Teal'c, then had to duck back behind a tree on his way there as several staff blasts headed that way. He leaned out around it and returned fire, hoping to cause a mess of energy blasts more than he was expecting to hit anyone. "Jack, Teal'c, come on!" he called back as he saw the other two still crouched near the tunnel entrance, covering their backs.

_"Colonel O'Neill, we're taking fire. Report."_

"So are we!" Jack yelled, though not into his radio, as he made a dash toward some cover closer to the 'gate. "Daniel, you're clear--we're right behind you!"

As he said it, he rose over top of Daniel's head and fired. "SGC, we're coming through now!" Daniel radioed, seeing that Jack wasn't taking a hand off his weapon to answer. "Be ready to close the iris!" He ran for the 'gate, turning back to shoot as he went and watching as Teal'c followed after him, Sam and Jack each peeling away from their positions--

XXXXX

**_17 April 2001; Briefing Room, SGC; 1130 hrs_ **

Daniel reflected, as they sat around the briefing room table, that it wasn't a good mark of their sense of self-preservation to feel so normal when Jack said, "So, essentially, we were ambushed on the way back to the 'gate."

"We almost didn't make it out," Sam added.

"If you'd delayed much longer, you wouldn't have," General Hammond said, looking out the window at where people were cleaning up the embarkation room. "I was about to close the iris."

"Well," Jack said, "considering the SGC was taking fire...kinda glad you waited as long as you did, sir."

"Strictly speaking, if I'd followed procedure, you'd all be dead right now."

There was something odd in his tone. Daniel leaned sideways very slightly, trying to see the general's expression in his reflection on the window. "Well, sir, every time we go through the Stargate it's a calculated risk," Sam said.

The general nodded, still not looking at them. "I realize that, Major. But frankly, I'm getting tired of sending good people out there, never knowing if they're going to come back. I've had enough."

Daniel felt his eyebrows shoot up. "Sir, what are you saying?"

Finally, the general turned around. "I wanted you all to be the first to know," he said heavily. "Effective immediately, I'm stepping down as commander of the SGC."

For a moment, Daniel didn't understand what General Hammond was saying. The words didn't make sense. Then they did, and he gripped an armrest of his chair to make sure it was real.

"What?" Jack said.

"You heard me, Jack," the general said, and somehow, the use of Jack's name instead of his rank--in front of the rest of them, no less, not in private--convinced Daniel that this was happening.

"General Hammond," Teal'c said into the confused pause, "I have never served under such a commander as you. You have been essential in the victories we have so far achieved against the Goa'uld."

"Thank you, Teal'c," the general said with a brief smile at the Jaffa. "I've also been essential in the losses we've suffered."

"But--" Daniel started.

"No, I'm sorry," the general interrupted. "I've said all I intend to--I've _done_ more than I ever intended to when I took this position. I'm almost done packing. It's time for an old man like me to step down and let someone fresh take over. Thank you all for your...your outstanding service. It's been an honor."

General Hammond turned away and walked into his office, closing the door behind him.

"But," Daniel said.

"That's a load of crap," Jack said.

"Sir," Sam started.

Jack looked down at her. "You don't believe that, do you? Come on--so we ran into a little trouble out there. We've been in--hell, _Daniel's_ been getting into worse trouble for years."

"Perhaps he has been considering this for some time, O'Neill," Teal'c said. "He spoke of more than simply the danger to us." Jack turned to him this time. "And perhaps," Teal'c said more quietly, "there is another reason for General Hammond's departure."

"Y'think?" Jack said, sitting back down and lowering his voice, too.

"However," Teal'c said, "it is not my place to question his reasons."

"But--" Daniel said.

"You're right," Jack said.

"But," Daniel said again.

"Everyone go clean up and get changed," Jack said decisively. "I'll talk to Hammond."

Sam nodded, standing, but she said, "Sir, if General Hammond wants to retire, it's his choice."

"Well, let's just make sure General Hammond really _does_ want to retire," Jack said. "None of you argue with him. I'll talk to him and see what's going on. And if he leaves...still, nothing changes, you understand? We still have the job, and we still have the team."

XXXXX

**_18 April 2001; Carter/Martouf/Lantash's Lab, SGC; 0900 hrs_ **

Except they didn't.

Daniel greeted their new commander--General Bauer--with the rest of the somewhat befuddled SG personnel and then followed Sam to her lab, mostly because he wasn't really sure what was going on. They found General Bauer waiting for them there.

"Sir," Sam said, snapping back to attention.

"At ease, Major," Bauer said immediately. Daniel glanced past him to where Martouf was sitting at a bench with a frown, then turned back to the general. "I've been going over your research into naquadah reactors. Very impressive."

"Well, large-scale application is mostly theoretical right now," she said, "but the mineral does show incredible potential as an alternative power source. Martouf and I have been--"

"It also shows some interesting properties when used in conjunction with nuclear ordinance," Bauer interrupted.

"W--" Sam's eyebrows drew low. "It...does tend to increase the explosive effect, yes, sir."

"As I have attempted to explain to General Bauer," Martouf said, standing up, "the SGC does not have adequate facilities, equipment, or material for what he is proposing. The Tok'ra do not even have a weapon like the one suggested, simply because there has been no feasible way to--"

"The Tok'ra have been dallying for thousands of years," Bauer said. "If we move at their pace, we're going to lose this war long before we get anywhere."

"General Bauer," Daniel said, thoroughly unimpressed, "the Tok'ra have spent thousands of years accomplishing things we can't even imagine, and if one of their top people"--he gestured toward Martouf--"believes a proposal isn't feasible--"

"Their top people believed until a few years ago that no human efforts were feasible, Mr. Jackson," Bauer said, not looking away from Sam. "The Pentagon feels that the Stargate project, while exposing Earth to considerable danger, has yet to produce any practical returns. Now--"

"I beg your pardon?" Daniel said, incredulous, "That's absurd! I can name--"

"Daniel," Sam said sharply. He stopped, unwilling--frustrated as he was--to let Bauer think there were cracks in SG-1's command structure. "I apologize, General."

Bauer turned away from her long enough to give Daniel an assessing look, then turned back. "Now," he began again, "we've been working on a device designed specifically to take advantage of this naquadah-enhancing effect. I'd like you to take part in the operation, Major."

Daniel glanced again at Martouf and saw his eyes flash. He almost wished Lantash would come out to yell at Bauer, because 'device' could only mean 'dangerous weapon' when combined with nuclear ordinance. But Lantash rarely did that anymore these days, perhaps wary of seizing control when he was so aware of Martouf's vulnerabilities, and it probably wouldn't have helped their case, anyway.

"What about my duties with SG-1?" Sam said.

"You've been reassigned," Bauer said.

" _What_?" Daniel blurted. Sam and Jack were the only two people who had held their positions on their current teams since the very start.

"As have you, Mr. Jackson," Bauer added. "A civilian--a minor--has no place on a frontline unit. From now on, you'll work as a linguistics consultant and as our liaison with Abydos, as you were originally intended to do. I anticipate our relationship with your planet will be very useful over the course of this project."

Naquadah-enhanced weapons.

Daniel shut his mouth.

"General Bauer, with...with all due respect..." Sam started

"The decision has been made, Major," Bauer said. "Now, I suggest you get to work." Bauer turned and walked from the lab.

"I--" Sam started once he was gone, then stopped. "Martouf, what exactly did he say he wants us to do?"

"I do not think he trusts me fully," Martouf said, looking disappointed. "But he left the file for you, and from what little he said to me, I believe he plans to build and test a naquadah-enhanced explosive as a more powerful weapon against the Goa'uld."

"Because attacking the Goa'uld with a huge bomb couldn't possibly hurt the enslaved people in the area," Daniel said, folding his arms.

Sam looked over her shoulder, then picked up the folder to look at what the assignment was. "A naquadah-enhanced nuclear bomb... There's nowhere on Earth we could test something like that and ensure...oh," she said.

"There is no need to use Earth," Martouf reminded her.

"And they need naquadah," Daniel said. "Sam, Sha'uri said my people just found a store of weapons-grade--"

"We have some weapons-grade material right here on base," Sam said. "It's probably enough to finish this project without even having to find more. Don't worry about Abydos."

Teal'c appeared in the doorway. "I have been reassigned," he told them.

"For God's sake," Sam said, slapping the folder back down on the bench top. "So have we, both of us. Colonel O'Neill's going to blow his top. What are you now, Teal'c, the on-base Goa'uld strategic consultant?"

"I was transferred to SG-3," Teal'c said. "They lost a man in battle two weeks ago."

"So what do we do?" Daniel said, feeling suddenly lost without General Hammond to lead them and without their team.

"We have our orders," Sam said.

"Sam--" Daniel protested.

"No," she said firmly. "Changes in leadership happen, and if we start picking and choosing who we want to obey, then we're no better than Maybourne's crowd. We follow our orders." Daniel glared at the floor. "Look, I know how you feel. Maybe the colonel will convince General Bauer to put things back the way they were."

Daniel winced. Jack was going to be angry, at the very least, and Bauer didn't seem like the kind of person who'd be as indulgent of Jack's temper as General Hammond had been.

"Something is not right," Teal'c said in a low voice.

"I don't know, Teal'c. But there's nothing we can do about it," Sam said. "Not here and not now. Everyone get back to work."

...x...

Daniel had stopped noticing all the time how quiet the archaeology office was. Now, it seemed more stifling than ever. It wasn't just that Robert was gone, though that was part of it--even now, there were two people in the room, looking for reference books, but there was a distance with them that hadn't existed with Robert.

Mostly, though, it was the prospect of being in here _all the time_ now, with no need or excuse to go anywhere but next door to Nyan's office when he had a question about some artifact, or across the hall to Dr. Reeve's office when he had to hand something in. There had always been an SG-1, and even when Daniel himself hadn't been on it, even when Colonel Makepeace had been briefly in charge, there had been General Hammond. They hadn't been trying to build a massive weapon capable of large-scale distruction then.

"Hey," Jack said.

Grateful for any noise, Daniel looked up to see him standing in the doorway, dressed, oddly, in civilian clothes. "Jack," he said. "You heard? About...us?"

"Yeah," Jack said, then walked in and said nothing more.

"Jack?" Daniel said. "What's going on?"

"I'm going to be on leave for a while," Jack said. He glanced at the lieutenant who was pulling a book from the shelf, then at the captain who was using a spare stool as a table to scribble down some notes. And then Jack turned back to Daniel and held himself so still and his eyes so steady that something was wrong, something he didn't really want to say in front of the others, and Daniel just had to figure out what--

"Do you need something?" Daniel said quietly, knowing that Jack could be overly paranoid at times but that there was often a good reason for it. He starting moving toward the door, an excuse to go somewhere they would be alone--

"Nah," Jack said, and didn't move, though he glanced again at the two translators. And, oddly, he didn't tell them to leave--Jack wasn't normally shy about ordering people around when they were annoying him, which meant something wasn't normal. "Didn't want to bother you guys before I left, but I had to tell you, since you're not going to have a ride home until I'm allowed to come back to work."

"Jack..." Daniel repeated, wondering what exactly the man had said to the general.

"I don't want you wandering around at all hours to get to the bus stop," Jack went on, "so it's best for you to stay on base for now. You need anything from the house?"

"Uh...no," he said. "I guess. But--"

"I'm really sorry about this," Jack said, staring hard at him. The lieutenant, looking awkward, took his book and left the room. The other man in the room didn't seem to notice. "You shouldn't get punished just because I was out of line."

"Jack--"

"You gonna be okay staying here?"

Daniel frowned at him, thoroughly confused now. "Of--of course. But Jack--"

"Daniel," Jack interrupted. "Remember what we said in the briefing room after the last mission?"

"That we still have the job?" Daniel said sardonically. "The team?"

"Before that."

_("Perhaps," Teal'c said, "there is another reason for General Hammond's departure.")_

"Yeah," Daniel said, suspicious now. He looked at the captain, who was gathering his notes together, and turned back with an exasperated sigh for show. "I know, I know."

Jack gave him a false, bright smile. "So, chin up. Keep an eye on the kids while I'm gone," he said. Daniel forced a short chuckle. "And don't worry about me--I just need to work some things out, and then I'll be back. I'll call and check on you; let me know if you need anything."

"Okay," Daniel said, nodding, concerned but a little relieved, too, now that he knew something was wrong. If something was wrong, and if Jack was working on it, then it could be fixed. "I'll be okay. We'll be good, Jack."

"You'd better be," Jack said. "That's an order--I always rely on you guys to be good so I get to screw around."

...x...

At lunch, Daniel found Sam and Teal'c sitting together, eating in companionable silence. "You heard about Jack?" he said, sitting down with them.

"Yeah," Sam sighed.

"Does it not seem odd?" Teal'c said.

Sam looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

"Jack thinks something's wrong," Daniel said into his coffee mug.

"He talked to you?" she said, looking a little hurt. "I found out from a memo."

"I was the only one he had a really good excuse to talk to, since he's usually my ride home." And Daniel would get it, too, and wouldn't argue. Jack must have known that.

She narrowed her eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"He said he's going to be working on it," Daniel said.

"But what's he going to do?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "I'm not sure _he_ knows. But he needs us to give him time."

"Daniel," she said warningly, almost a whisper, "are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure."

"Are you talking about defying direct orders on a...a hunch?"

"No," he answered. "And I'm passing along Jack's orders, and if I were going to trust anyone's hunches, it would be his. Sam, he's on forced leave just for being annoyed that they took his team apart without consulting him. And we don't have to defy. _Directly_."

Sam stared at him. "You're always talking about morals. 'Directly' or 'indirectly' shouldn't make a difference."

Daniel bit his lip, then said, "Morally, maybe not. Legally, on the other hand..." He trailed off suggestively. "And there are times when 'moral' and 'illegal' overlap."

"This isn't right," she said, but she was wavering.

"Perhaps it is more right than what is happening now," Teal'c said. She gave him a pained look.

"Look, what about that project you're working on?" Daniel said. "General Hammond leaves, and his replacement suddenly takes us all apart, kicks out the one person who dares to say anything, and wants you to build a nuclear bomb?"

"Well, what do you think _we_ could do short of...something really stupid?" Sam said. "Without Colonel O'Neill, we're just three people. No offense, but we're a scientist and a civilian who've been taken out of the field--a woman and a kid, and regs would love to take people like us out of combat positions anyway--and a turned enemy."

" _And_ we're three of the most well-known names on base," Daniel reminded her. "We're more firmly embedded in SGC history and legend than anyone else but Jack. We're not without clout--we have influence with at least some people in every division of the SGC."

"Your project will already see delays," Teal'c said pointedly, "because the SGC does not have sufficient quantities of weapons-grade naquadah."

She frowned and opened her mouth to correct him, then closed it.

"Is that not correct, Major Carter?"

"Teal'c," she said. "If I do _anything_ , I could be court-martialed."

"Well, Teal'c and I don't exist on this planet unless they say we do," Daniel said. "How many of our problems have come out of the Pentagon? The first time we dealt with them here, they wanted to take Teal'c and study Junior in a lab."

"Do you understand how much power is in the Pentagon?" she countered quietly.

"Then do nothing, Major Carter," Teal'c added. "All we ask is that you remain on your guard and work carefully."

She took a bite of a sandwich and didn't answer for a few minutes. And then, "If Bauer suspects anything, I'll be taken off the project. That would be even worse. I can't trust the next person will follow Colonel O'Neill's orders over General Bauer's on your word alone, Daniel."

"You don't have to tell anyone," Daniel said, "but you're in charge, right? And if you think someone would help you, bring them in. Martouf would help--he's already concerned. The scientists trust him. And...and make people run...quadruple checks, whatever takes most time."

"Time for _what_?"

"I don't _know_ ," he repeated. "Something. Wait until Jack contacts us and we know more. It's a nuclear bomb, Sam. No one would find it suspicious that you want to be careful."

Sam played unhappily with her Jell-O. "The kinds of shortcuts he wants to take on this project..." she said. "It could be really dangerous. The timeline he's set is pretty harsh if we want to do it safely. Martouf and I aren't the only ones worried."

"So stall," Daniel said.

"He's got a full set of plans and loads of data from research done at the Pentagon," she warned. "We're mostly just checking over calculations and providing the naquadah and the hardware. They've already done the bulk of the work--you're not realizing how suspicious excessive delays might look."

"Then be very cautious in whom you place your trust," Teal'c said. "Listen and watch carefully."

Finally, she nodded. "I'll do what I can. Both of you watch out and keep your heads _down_." She stood and left. Daniel glanced at Teal'c, then looked down and continued eating in silence.

XXXXX

**_22 April 2001; General Hammond's Office, SGC; 1100 hrs_ **

"You wanted to see me?" Daniel said, standing at the door to the office days later.

"We need to talk," Bauer said.

Daniel stepped in. "Okay."

Bauer held out a packet of paper until Daniel reached out and took it. "Does this look familiar?"

"It...it looks like Major Pendleton's original survey report from the planet P48-3K8," Daniel said, wondering if he'd _already_ stepped too far in opposing the project.

"You do recognize it. Somehow, I'm not surprised."

"Yes, sir. Like many, I make a habit of reading all mission reports from all teams unless they're sealed for some reason, and, since this planet was chosen to be the test site for the, uh, the weapons testing, it seemed like relevant reading material for our current situatio--"

"The head of your department was here a few minutes ago," Bauer said. "He had concerns about the fitness of this site for the test, but when I asked him why, the only reason he could give me was that some people had concerns. Can I assume that, if I asked you, _you_ could tell me exactly why you think P48-3K8 is an inappropriate location?"

Daniel swallowed. "Yes, sir, it was my... I'm the one who brought up those concerns with Dr. Reeve, if that's what you're asking, and if you'll hear me out, I'm sure you'd agr--"

"If you have concerns," Bauer cut him off sternly, "you can tell _me_ instead of hiding behind another researcher."

"He's my direct supervisor now that I'm not on a team," Daniel said, annoyed. "I was trying to follow the chain of command, sir, but if you'd like, I'd gladly skip past that formality."

"Furthermore," Bauer went on, "you're not involved in this project."

"There's evidence of an abandoned naquadah mine on that planet!" Daniel said, flipping to the right page in the report and pointing. "There's probably still some naquadah there, and besides, there's clearly plant and animal life, which means there could be intelligent life beyond the area that SG-5 searched. And the reports were misplaced in the archive and SG-5's currently off-world, so it could easily have been missed by Major Carter and the scientists working on the--"

Bauer stood. "When I want your opinion on a subject beyond your skill and understanding, Mr. Jackson, I'll ask for it."

Daniel stopped with his mouth still open.

"If I find out that you had anything to do with the recent delays on this project..."

"Well, it's clearly beyond my understanding, sir," Daniel said stiffly. "I couldn't have had anything to do with it. In fact, I went to Dr. Reeve today because I couldn't get access to the lab when I tried to speak with the scientists involved."

The project was proceeding alarmingly quickly. Sam said the plans from Washington were very, very complete, and even with a few people purposely dawdling, there were more who were moving forward with all the typical efficiency of the SGC. Sergeant Siler had destroyed half of a nearly-completed model after the first day. Daniel wasn't sure if that had been an accident and hadn't asked. The man usually played strictly by the book, but he knew and trusted Sam, too. Though Siler's job wasn't as flashy as a field operative's, he'd been around for a long time, building and improving and fixing things, right from the start of the program. It was hard to tell with him, as with so many of the other personnel here.

It was hard to tell if people's loyalties were to the command or the commander, the institution or the individual people. Daniel couldn't always tell what people were thinking, especially for the military personnel, who had less room to maneuver when given an order.

Bauer gave him a sharp look. "You, Major Carter, and Teal'c--I've seen the three of you with your heads together just about everywhere outside of your work areas."

"We're just... You can't be saying we're not allowed to talk just because you disbanded SG-1," Daniel said, quashing some panic because they _had_ been discussing Bauer and Jack's occasional phone calls every chance they could get in the commissary or anywhere else too public to hear their private conversations. "I'm not allowed to spend downtime with my _friends_?"

Technically, even disregarding the fact that they were deliberately obstructing orders, they were in contact with and trying to help a man who was with a convicted traitor--at least, Daniel was pretty sure that was what Jack's meandering conversations with him meant. Jack said the President was on their side, but since it involved Colonel Maybourne, the orders must be very secret and very unofficial, which meant someone had even more power than the leader of the country. At the moment, it was possible that someone was General Bauer.

_Head down_ , Sam had said. _Be good_ , Jack had said. Daniel tried very hard to look very innocent and had the feeling he wasn't doing a good job.

"Of course I'm not saying that," Bauer said, because they both knew that if he did anything as authoritarian as that, people would start to whisper more than they already were. "You're dismissed, Mr. Jackson."

...x...

"Martouf," Daniel said, relieved to find the Tok'ra in his quarters, fiddling with a mathematical puzzle at his desk. "Are you still working on the bomb project?"

"Yes," Martouf said. "Although I am not certain whether to be glad I was not taken off the project or disappointed that it has not yet been discontinued."

"Yeah, um...I really need to tell Sam something, but I can't get into the labs where she is right now," Daniel said. "It's about the test site General Bauer picked. Martouf, there's an abandoned naquadah mine there. Now, I'm not an expert on Goa'uld methods, but..."

Frowning, Martouf said, "It is likely that there is naquadah otherwise present in the soil if there are records of a large deposit there."

"Isn't that dangerous?" Daniel said. "For testing a bomb like that, I mean."

"Very," Martouf said, picking up a notepad on his desk and jotting something down. "I will go to the lab and tell Samantha immediately."

"Tell her to look at SG-5's UAV data from their first mission to '3K8 if anyone's not sure," he added, watching Martouf add that to his notes. "The evidence is clear."

...x...

"He knew all along," Sam said, marching into the archaeology office, looking furious. "He lied about the geological data to us! The reports he gave us said there was no naquadah in the soil, and all along he _knew_ there were trace amounts everywhere on the planet, which is extremely dangerous. Dammit."

"But now you'll have to find another site, right?" Daniel said.

Sam shook her head. "I told you--he knew from the start. This doesn't change anything, except that now no one's hiding the fact that they're _trying_ to start a chain reaction that could potentially destroy the entire planet--"

"The _entire_ planet? But we can't be sure there's no one _anywhere_ on the planet!"

"A risk assessment has been made," she said bitterly. "We'll proceed with the plans, even though that plan includes leaving Earth connected by an open wormhole to a planet that'll be full of radiation and...god. I guess I should be glad he didn't take me off the project for protesting. _And_ glad a lot of people heard when Martouf came in to tell us about that UAV report. Thanks for that, by the way."

Daniel sat back in his chair. "But..."

There wasn't even anyone to go to for help. No Hammond, no way to tell whether Bauer was NID, since Jack said even Maybourne didn't know, no way to know whom to contact when everyone who knew about the SGC could potentially be NID, too, an organization powerful enough to threaten General Hammond's grandchildren without repercussions. And even here, anyone who wasn't acting with them could act against them if they suspected people were stalling or opposing General Bauer.

"Why didn't you come to me as soon as you found it?" Sam said.

"You were in the lab," Daniel said. "I'm not 'authorized personnel.'"

She gave him an odd look. "Since when aren't you authorized to enter my lab? People come and go--it's not just the scientists on the project."

Daniel scowled. "Well, my card doesn't allow me into the area anymore, and the SF outside told me I wasn't authorized, so..."

"What? Is it just you?"

"I don't know, but he says he's seen us talking," Daniel said, "which... I mean, of course friends talk, but I don't know if he thinks we're...I don't know. He thinks I'm the one delaying the project." Which he was, admittedly, if only in some minimal and frustratingly indirect way. Reluctantly, he added, "I hope you're not in trouble because I was digging around."

"Well, he can't make us stop talking," she said, though she looked disconcerted, since Bauer wasn't exactly wrong about what they were talking _about_. "I'll get as many people as I can to have doubts about the bomb. He has data that say it's safe, but if he gave us false data once..."

"Right," Daniel said. Surely, others would be just as unwilling to overlook dangerous discrepancies in data.

"Don't do anything," she said.

"Sam--"

"Don't," she repeated. "He's been giving me funny looks, too. Keep your nose clean. That's...an order." She looked a little embarrassed as she said it, but she was Jack's 2IC and there was nothing Daniel could do anyway, so he sighed and went back to work as she left.

XXXXX

**_23 April 2001; Briefing Room, SGC; 1300 hrs_ **

SG-12 was already in the briefing room the next day when Daniel stepped in. "Major Ferretti?" he said warily. "What's going on?"

"Apparently..." Ferretti started, then cut himself off as the team stood. Daniel turned around to see Bauer enter from General Hammond's office.

"Be seated," Bauer said. Daniel hurried to find a seat. "Major Carter tells me that we need about seven-hundred grams more of weapons-grade naquadah to complete the bomb to specifications. I understand a small supply of high-purity material was recently found on Abydos, and SG-12 is one of the codes that hasn't been changed since their iris system's last update. I want you to retrieve that naquadah."

"You mean you want to _ask_ the Abydons if they'll let us retrieve some, knowing what it'll be used for," Daniel corrected, straightening. "Sir, I have to protest--"

"I'm giving you an order, Mr. Jackson," Bauer said.

"And the SGC-Abydos treaty says that the SGC cannot take naquadah or anything else from the Abydons without their permission, and my primary job now is to act as the voice of Abydonian interests," Daniel said. "By your orders."

"Or," Bauer said, "I can send a team to P3S-452 to find the naquadah instead. I'm told it has to be very refined and that it's very rare."

At that, the rest of SG-12 sat up. "General, isn't that the Goa'uld stronghold SG-3 found?" Captain Dertram said.

"Yes, it is," Bauer said. "I'm confident a well-armed strike force can get the job done, but I don't want to risk lives when we have a peaceful solution. Frankly, Mr. Jackson, I'm surprised you'd put pride ahead of our people's lives. Or...we can just ask the Abydons."

"We'll ask the Abydons," Daniel said, subdued. Otherwise, SG-3 would probably be sent to a Goa'uld stronghold again, and this time with Teal'c. If he remembered correctly, that was the mission where SG-3 had recently lost one of its members.

"Good," Bauer said. "You ship out as soon as you're ready."

...x...

**_23 April 2001; Stargate Room, Abydos; 1330 hrs_ **

Tobay met them when they landed on Nagada, warning, " _Sha she'a taiyu_."

"A storm," Daniel said, relieved and apprehensive all at once. "Major Ferretti, we can't go out in this until it passes."

Before the wormhole could deactivate, Ferretti flipped on the MALP switch and said into the camera, "General Bauer, this is Major Ferretti."

There was a long pause, and then finally, Bauer answered, _"What's the hold-up, Major?"_

"There's a sandstorm out there," Ferretti said. "It'll be some time before we can go out and get to the village."

_"Should I send SG-3 to P3S-452?"_ Bauer said.

"No, no, wait!" Daniel said, moving toward the MALP. "General, it won't last more than a day at most. Surely you'd prefer such a brief delay in testing a nuclear bomb instead of unnecessarily endangering the lives of good men by sending them to a Goa'uld stronghold!"

He held his breath, waiting for an answer as Major Ferretti gave him an incredulous look. Daniel hoped there were a lot of people in the control room listening. A general could tell them all to shut up and obey, but only an idiot would want dissent in the ranks when some people were muttering already; choosing a Goa'uld base over Abydos was stupid and wasteful and could do nothing _but_ cause dissent.

_"All right,"_ Bauer said a moment later. _"If you don't come back within twenty-four hours, I'll assume you were either unable to complete your mission or unwilling to do so, and I'll have to look elsewhere for the naquadah. SGC out."_

The wormhole flickered out of existence.

"Geesh," Dertram muttered. "'Unwilling to complete your mission?' What was that?"

Daniel quashed a sigh of relief and said, "Let's go down here. It'll be safer." He pointed to the entrance to the catacombs, where many of the Guards were staying, too. "I'll keep watch with the Guards and let you know when the storm's let up."

To his relief, no one argued, and SG-12 settled down to wait, out of sight of the night outside. He hoped the sandstorm lasted just under twenty-four hours, so they'd be able to take as long as possible.

He wondered what was taking Jack so long. He wondered what Jack was _doing_.

" _There are many sandstorms in recent days,_ " Tobay said, once they were sitting in position to see when the storm stopped.

" _Really?_ " Daniel said, not really paying attention.

" _Yes. One in every few days for the last half moon cycle._ "

That caught Daniel's attention. " _What? That many?_ " he said.

" _Some believe the gods wish to tell us something_ ," Tobay said.

" _I do not think that can be so_ ," Daniel said, but it was strange for sandstorms to come that rapidly." _There must be an explanation. I will ask our scientists if they know what could be causing it. Perhaps we can help._ "

Tobay nodded. " _But that is not why you came today._ " He gestured back toward SG-12, in the catacombs. " _Do you need something from us?_ "

" _Mineral_ ," Daniel said. " _From Ra's stores that were found earlier._ "

" _I will take you myself once the storm has passed_ ," Tobay said easily. " _Earth is always welcome to it_."

Daniel grimaced and looked down. The Abydons didn't usually question what the SGC did with the naquadah--SGC mining operations were kept as low-key as possible so no one was disturbed, and no one used the mineral here, anyway. Only if Daniel told them something was wrong would they have reason to think they should question it.

" _Dan'yel?_ " Tobay said, frowning. " _Something is wrong?_ "

But lying about why they needed it--or omitting--was better than a risky military strike that could take more lives. " _No,_ " Daniel lied, smiling. " _I am a little tired; that is all. Nothing is wrong. Thank you for your help._ "

XXXXX

**_24 April 2001; Embarkation Room, SGC; 0800 hrs_ **

The storm died completely seventeen hours after they'd arrived on Nagada. Daniel allowed himself another moment to worry--so many sandstorms that lasted half a day at a time would soon begin to hinder life on Abydos. With the bomb heaviest on his mind, though, he didn't allow himself to worry much longer, at least for now. Imminent danger came first; environmental survey later.

With the trip toward Nagada, through the mine, into Ra's old storage room, and back, they returned to the SGC just in time for Bauer to say, "Good. We should be able to proceed with the testing today."

In the men's locker room, Ferretti said, "Well, _someone_ doesn't like the new general."

Daniel glanced up to see Ferretti's eyes on him, watching him sharply. "I'd rather have our old general back," he said frankly, toeing his locker shut. "The one who _wouldn't_ have started a nuclear weapons project and insisted on testing it less than a week later without so much as running any small-scale tests or simulations first."

"Hey, Jackson," Haller said, lowering his voice, "I'm on the project, too. Is it true what Martouf said, that they're trying to blow up the whole planet?"

"That's what Sam told me," Daniel said. "You've all seen the report now, right, the one that says there's a naquadah mine there?"

"We've seen it," Haller said. "We really should do another survey of that site first."

"Yes," Daniel agreed. "In fact, maybe you should suggest that to General Bauer before he starts the test. Or to the other scientists. Or ask why he gave you false data to begin with."

"Whoa, whoa," Ferretti said, grabbing Daniel's arm. "Hold it. What are you saying?"

"What?" Daniel said defiantly. "I'm just saying they might want to ask some questions. It's not against regulations to want clarification when you have conflicting information, is it? He lied to you about _destroying a planet!_ "

"The general can just tell us to go to hell and that it's not our concern," Haller said. "That it's above our clearance or something."

"Or tell whoever asks to look for reassignment," Ferretti added as they finished changing and started to head out. "Before you start playing games, _even_ if you're right, think about what'll happen if you put your word against his--"

" _And_ Sam's word--"

"Major versus Major _General_ ," Ferretti insisted. "You need me to draw you a picture? This is her career, Jackson. Watch where you step."

"Well, if she and Martouf are right," Daniel said quietly, "then we're not just worried about the other planet; it could affect _us_ , too. It could take out this mountain, maybe more. And since Sam pioneered this area of science and Lantash has been doing things like this for millennia--"

"Daniel?" Nyan's voice said. He stopped and turned around to see Nyan standing nervously in the hallway. "Major Carter said to tell you that you _have_ to come right now and call the colonel and tell him to hurry, because they're starting."

Daniel wished he hadn't said that in front of SG-12, who were looking even more confused than before. "Right," Daniel said. "Okay. Um. Thanks."

"You're welcome," Nyan said, and went back toward the elevator. "Come on."

"The colonel?" Ferretti repeated. "As in O'Neill? What the hell are you guys up to now?"

"I'll explain later," Daniel said nervously, then escaped into the elevator with Nyan.

...x...

He found Sam, Teal'c, and Martouf in his office when he and Nyan arrived. "We were taken off the project yesterday," Sam said tightly. "They can't stall any longer. It's happening--the MALP's probably going through to the test site now. I've been trying to reach Colonel O'Neill and see if he can...I don't know, hurry it up. Or if he's got anything at all we can use."

Daniel picked up his telephone and dialed, not wanting to waste time asking any other questions. If it weren't for the fact that Sam had taken command here, it would have looked a bit like an alien conspiracy. Since they were largely aliens and conspiring against their current Tau'ri leader, Daniel supposed they couldn't even deny that.

"Nothing?" Sam said after he'd hung up once and tried again.

"Answer your phone, Jack," Daniel muttered, waiting until he heard Jack's automated voice-mail message to hang up again and then tried the phone at the house. Nyan perched on Robert's old desk, watching him and glancing nervously at the closed doors, while Sam lingered in the doorway. " _Yi shay_. I don't know what to tell you, Sam--I don't have a better way of reaching him than you do. He's been calling _me_ , not the other way around."

"The test will begin soon," Teal'c said. "There must be something we can do to stop it."

"General Bauer has evidence that he is correct," Martouf said.

"But it is false," Nyan protested.

"Doesn't matter," Sam said, indignant--falsifying data in a case like _this_ was, to her, a crime worth disobedience to a superior officer. Daniel wondered what reprimands Bauer had put into her file for it. "There are too many people who believe the numbers, and my word doesn't hold up well enough against a general with data from who-knows-where in his hands."

Daniel hung up for the third time. "Maybe we can try..." he said. At a loss, he dialed one of the few numbers he kept along with Jack's and Sam's.

_"Hello?"_ a familiar voice answered.

"General Hammond," Daniel said as Sam perked up, "it's Daniel Jackson, and I'm sorry, I don't know who to call. But there's a...a...a test happening right now, and...and I was hoping you knew how to get in contact with--"

_"Mr. Jackson,"_ the general cut him off. _"I shouldn't be hearing any of this. As far as you're concerned, I don't have the clearance."_

"No, no, no, sir," Daniel said desperately. "You don't understand. We have to talk to Jack, so if you know where--"

_"I can't do anything,"_ the general said. _"I don't know where Colonel O'Neill is, and you should not be talking to me. I'm very sorry, but I'm not your commander anymore."_

Daniel stopped, staring at the clock. They'd probably started already. "I don't know what to do," he said.

_"And I wish I could help you, son, believe me. Don't do anything--"_

_"Major Carter to the control room,"_ Sergeant Harriman's voice said over the speaker. _"All other personnel commence immediate evacuation of the base."_

_"Repeat--immediate evacuation, by order of General Bauer,"_ Bauer's voice added. _"This is_ not _a drill!"_

"Oh, gods," Daniel breathed, still holding the phone.

_"What's wrong?"_ General Hammond said.

"They're evacuating the Mountain," Daniel said as Nyan stood up. The other three had already dashed out the door. "Sam was right. Sir, I have to go see what's happening--"

_"No!"_ the general barked. _"Daniel, follow evacuation procedure. That's an order!"_

With a silent apology, Daniel hung up the phone and said, "Nyan, General Hammond says to get out. You remember the evacuation drills? You have your ID? Names, contacts, numbers..."

"Yes," Nyan said, already pulling the door open. "But...Daniel--"

"We'll meet on the surface. Find an officer you know and stay with him or her, and don't talk to anyone you don't know when you get up there," Daniel said, pushing him toward the elevator and heading the other way toward the stairs, squeezing past the people running past him in the opposite direction.

Teal'c, Sam, Martouf, and General Bauer were all in the control room when he arrived, along with Sergeant Harriman, who was leaving even then on Sam's order.

"What happened?" Daniel said, looking out into the 'gate room, where a wormhole was clearly still active behind the iris.

"Apparently, the 'gate on the other side wasn't destroyed in the explosion," Sam said with a glare at a stunned-looking Bauer. "The radiation's coming through the wormhole, and if the iris breaks down, there'll be no way to stop the radiation from bombarding the whole base and spreading farther from there."

"We can't disengage from here?" Daniel said, looking out the window.

"The DHD override isn't working," she said, glancing down at the console. "We can't even stay up here safely much longer--"

"I will disconnect the DHD," Teal'c said. "If that is what continues to power the Stargate, the loss of power will cause the wormhole to disengage. My symbiote will protect me from radiation."

"Yeah, for a bit," Sam said, raising her voice as he started down the stairs, "but Teal'c, even you'll be affected by that much--"

"I will go and help him," Martouf said, then, without waiting, he brushed past them and headed down the stairs. "I know how the DHD works. None of you can remain here!"

"Dammit, he's right," she said angrily, not bothering to hide her glare at General Bauer. "We can monitor from the security station on Level 16. Go, now!"

Daniel turned and ran toward the elevator to reach the sixteenth level.

"And what do you think you're doing here?" Sam snapped, turning to him as they rode up. "You had orders to evacuate with everyone else!"

"Oh, please, you didn't really expect me to leave," Daniel snapped back, because neither Teal'c nor Martouf had left, either. She didn't argue or even repeat the order, though, making him suspect she was just channeling Jack's irritability under stress.

They entered the sixteenth level security station together. Daniel flipped on a light switch while Bauer turned on another, and Sam quickly brought up the camera from the 'gate room. "Iris is still holding, but it's starting to heat up," she said. "If it loses integrity..."

"I don't see Teal'c or Martouf," Daniel said worriedly.

"They might be getting equipment," she said.

"We have to set the autodestruct," Bauer said.

"Why is blowing things up always your solution?" Daniel burst out, frustrated. If only Bauer had _listened_ to them when it mattered. "It didn't work on the other side; why should it work here?"

"At least the 'gate would be buried under a million tons of rock," Bauer said.

"That wouldn't stop it from pumping out radiation," Sam said, still watching the screen. "Eventually the heat is going to melt through that iris."

"And nothing good can come of being connected to planets that are _melting and radioactive_ ," Daniel said.

Sam flipped one of the monitors to display one of the side rooms, searching for Teal'c and Martouf. "We have to hope they can disconnect the power source and that that will disconnect the wormhole. If we turned that planet into a ball of superheated plasma, that much energy could be enough to power the wormhole indefinitely, even from the other side."

"There!" Daniel said when the side blast door opened on the monitor.

"They're going to cut the connection?" Bauer said in disbelief as Teal'c and Martouf ran inside toward the DHD, each holding a hefty pair of wire cutters in his hands.

"Apparently, sir," Sam said. "Literally."

Martouf pointed at the wires connecting the DHD to the Stargate, then wavered--Teal'c caught and steadied him, though it looked like he was leaning on the railing of the ramp himself. Once they were both standing straight again, at the same time, they each cut through one of the wires. Teal'c threw Martouf out of the way and covered him as sparks flew from the cut ends of the cable--

The wormhole deactivated.

"Thank god," Bauer said, staring.

"Thank Teal'c and Martouf," Sam countered, then looked closer at the screen. "They're not moving; I don't think they're going to make it out on their own. They need medical attention."

"I'll go to the surface and alert the medical personnel," Bauer said.

"And radiation teams--no one else come down until we're clear!" Sam called after him, then started out of the room as well. Before Daniel could head downstairs, she said, "Daniel, this way. Radiation suits."

Daniel started to ask something and then realized with a burst of frustration that he didn't understand enough about radiation to know what to ask.

"Here," she said, scanning her card quickly and opening a door. "The wormhole was one-way, but until a thorough survey has been done, treat that room as potentially radioactive--I didn't get a chance to see exactly what was going on, and secondary radiation could still--"

"I get it--wear the suits," Daniel said.

"There were high-energy gamma rays coming through," she added, "which these suits wouldn't stop completely, but we just need enough time and protection to make sure Teal'c and Martouf get out, or even their symbiotes won't be able to save them."

...x...

The lower level was sweltering. The blast door was open and Teal'c and Martouf were both lying just outside when they arrived at the 'gate room, Martouf apparently unconscious and Teal'c close to it. "Pull them out!" Sam called, her voice muffled by her mask.

Daniel pulled Martouf over the boundary as Teal'c crawled out on his own. The door began to slide closed, the alarm began to sound all around them, and Sam moved away from the controls and squeezed quickly through the opening to join them outside.

"Teal'c, can you walk?" Sam said, pulling Teal'c's arm over her shoulders and helping him to his feet with some effort. "Daniel--Martouf."

Daniel shook the Tok'ra gently, but he only moaned and turned his head away. Bracing himself, Daniel dragged Martouf upward, pulled an arm and leg over his shoulders, and staggered upright, catching himself against the wall before his knees could buckle. "Elevator," he called, and stumbled forward beside Sam and Teal'c.

Teal'c collapsed before they could arrive, nearly taking Sam with him. With a grunt, she began to drag him the rest of the way. Daniel deposited Martouf clumsily in the elevator and went back to help her with Teal'c, and she barely waited for Daniel to haul Teal'c's legs inside before she punched the button to go up.

"Can we take these off?" Daniel panted, waving his gloved hands. He could barely see anymore, between the fogged mask and his fogged glasses.

Breathing hard as well, Sam said, "There's enough steel and concrete between us and the 'gate room by now and the wormhole's closed. Anything that got through that won't be stopped by suits like this."

He was pretty sure that was a 'yes' but wasn't quite sure until she pulled her mask off and stripped off a glove to check over Teal'c.

Daniel followed suit and bent over Martouf, who still wasn't stirring but at least had a steady pulse and was breathing. "Is he okay?" he said.

"Breathing," she offered. "Teal'c was awake for a while earlier--I don't think his exposure was too much worse than that crystal skull planet, and he recovered fine. Hopefully, their symbiotes can take care of them." She paused, said, "You okay?"

"I think so."

The elevator doors opened. Daniel bent to drag Martouf out before returning to help Sam with Teal'c. "We can't drag them all the way," he said, shaking his head and brushing stray strands of hair out of his eyes.

"We just need to get to the isolation room," she said, taking Martouf under the arms and pulling him along the corridor as Daniel started to do the same with Teal'c. "They'll--"

The other elevator opened, and a team of people in suits came out. "We'll take them from here, Sam!" Janet's said, muffled behind her mask. "You two get into Iso 3. Sergeant," she added, pointing to someone else, "radiation check, basic workup, now. Good work, you two."

Daniel helped shift Teal'c onto a gurney and then backed away into the isolation room with Sam, where they dropped onto the side of the nearest bed in relief.

XXXXX

**_25 April 2001; Infirmary, SGC; 1000 hrs_ **

"Hammond's back," Jack said the next day.

Daniel whirled around to see him. "You're back!" and then, "Hammond? Really? How? Because of yesterday, or...?"

Jack shrugged, hopping onto the empty gurney next to Teal'c's bed. "Almost getting Earth fatally irradiated against the advice of key voices here after falsifying evidence? That gets Bauer out. But we got a powerful NID agent to stop everyone from threatening Hammond, so that gets Hammond _in_."

"That is good to hear," Teal'c said from where he sat in a semi-reclined position.

"If we could have held on one more day..." Daniel said.

"Hey, I'm surprised you guys held on _this_ long," Jack said, nodding to Sam, who was sitting by a sleeping Martouf. "I hear we have to thank a couple of symbiotes for not going up in flames yesterday. You two gonna be okay?"

Teal'c nodded. "Dr. Fraiser has said that we will both recover without permanent damage."

"With rest," Daniel added. "Jack, what about General Bauer? Was he...?"

"Just a gung-ho patsy, we're pretty sure," Jack said. "Someone was feeding him exaggerated information and orders from people linked to the NID--"

"Who?"

"I don't know everyone who was involved."

"Still?" Daniel said, wondering what it would take for someone to be able to do any real damage at all to the NID.

Jack made a face. "Hammond's back. For now, that's all I'm asking for. There was a senior senator in this, Daniel--a man running for President with powerful people backing him. Robert Kinsey's the only one in the Senate who can cripple the SGC just by shutting down our budget, and he was helping them. We can't shut them all down, and if we try, they'll just pull something else."

Daniel frowned. "But..."

"We'll get them," Jack said. "But we need more information. And we need someone like Hammond in charge, not their goon. One step at a time."

"Speaking of which..." General Hammond's voice said as he appeared at the doorway to the infirmary.

"General!" Daniel rose to his feet, and he heard Sam do the same behind him.

"It's very good to have you back, sir," she said, walking forward to join them around Teal'c's bed.

"It's good to be back, Major," the general said. "Mr. Jackson, you disobeyed my direct order yesterday."

Daniel rocked backward slightly, slipping his hands into his pockets, but he'd seen General Hammond truly angry enough to know the difference. "You said yourself you were no longer our commander at the time, sir."

Smiling, the general said, "Well, now I'm back, I trust you'll _all_ be a little better behaved than you've been over the last week."

"Don't count on it, sir," Jack said happily.

"Teal'c," the general added, ignoring the quip, "not for the first time, we're indebted to your bravery. I'll have to come back and thank Martouf when he's awake, too."

"I am simply pleased for your return, General Hammond," Teal'c said, smiling back.

The general nodded, then said, "I'm looking forward to this debriefing. Colonel O'Neill, I'd like to speak to you."

"All right, sir," Jack said, and followed the man out.

Sam let out a breath. "So. Back to normal, huh."

"Indeed," Teal'c said.

Daniel nodded and sank back into the chair by the bed. "Now we just have Apophis and the equivalent of about five Goa'uld armies under his control to deal with," he said.

"Not today," Sam said decisively. "We'll work on that part later. Today, we win."

Still, Daniel thought as he watched the quiet bustle of the infirmary, it was an odd day when not eradicating themselves was their great victory.

XXXXX

**_26 April 2001; O'Neill/Jackson Residence; 0200 hrs_ **

Daniel woke with a start and, for a moment, couldn't figure out where he was. Then he recognized the small bookshelf Jack had moved into this room for him and remembered they were done now--he was at home, General Hammond was back, Jack was back, SG-1 was back, the SGC was safe, Teal'c and Martouf would heal with time...

And the NID was powerful enough to take two little girls from under a major general's nose. Someone was so eager to create a weapon to kill the Goa'uld--and some people were so eager to follow--that they'd almost created a nuclear disaster right at the center of the SGC. And then there was Maybourne, and that was just the _tip_ of the iceberg.

He rolled over restlessly in bed, wondering if they'd ever go back to the days when his job was to translate ancient tablets and find places with new people to talk to who weren't trying to kill them, or whom they weren't trying to kill.

Ironically, he was pretty sure that P3X-888 was the last time he'd been somewhere like that, aside from a side trip or two to Abydos, and he still considered '888 a nightmare, friendly Unas relations or not.

The sound of glass clinking from downstairs, though, told him Jack was awake, too. Deciding that he wouldn't mind some company, Daniel pulled himself out of bed.

"Jack?" he said when he found the kitchen light on.

"What are you doing up?" Jack said, sitting at the table.

Daniel's eyes flicked to the beer in his hand. "Wondering what _you're_ doing up."

Jack made a face.

"Jack," Daniel sighed, descending the rest of the way down the steps, "we have work tomorrow. Today," he amended, squinting at his watch.

"We don't have a mission coming up," Jack pointed out. "They just finished clean-up, and Carter needs to fix the DHD and hook everything back up."

"Is that your first one?" Daniel said, nodding to the bottle.

"I'm not..." Jack started, then scratched his head. "Yeah. First and last."

Daniel pulled out a chair and joined him at the table with a yawn. "It won't take long to reconnect things. And we could always update the Abydos iris again if there's no mission. By the way, they've been having trouble with sandstorms. More than usual--once every few days. There's talk that it's a message from the gods."

Jack dropped his head onto the table. "For crying out loud," he mumbled tiredly. "Really?"

"Really," Daniel said, poking at his head and receiving no response. On a whim, he reached out and took a gulp of the last of the beer before Jack could snatch the bottle back.

"Hey," Jack said halfheartedly.

The taste of Tau'ri beer surprised him, and he choked on the mouthful. "You drink this voluntarily?" Daniel said, coughing again.

"Give me that," Jack said, putting the bottle back down on the table. "Go back to sleep, Daniel."

"I can't fall asleep," Daniel said.

With a sigh, Jack sat up straight. "Something wrong?"

"I asked you first." Daniel set his chin down on the table. "Are you upset that Maybourne got out? Because whatever you ended up doing, you were acting on the President's orders, and it got General Hammond back and now we know about Senator Kinsey."

"Maybe," Jack said. "I just don't like being that person."

Daniel snorted. "I think a lot of us don't like being...whoever we've been recently."

Jack stared at him, frowning. "What's that mean?"

"Something good came out of what you did, Jack," Daniel pointed out. "The rest of us... We almost killed ourselves bombing a planet. We don't know if there was anyone alive there. At the very least, we wiped out an entire planet with plant and animal life; at most, we committed genocide and...and disrupted some...astronomical balance of the...you know what I mean."

Jack was silent for a while, turning the bottle around in his fingers. "Everyone had orders."

"We could've found a way to prove it was illegal," Daniel said. "We could've refused on moral grounds. Somehow. And--"

And Daniel had lied to his own people to take their naquadah. It didn't matter that it hadn't been much, it hadn't harmed Abydos, and things had turned out okay. He'd wondered briefly, at first, if the Tau'ri would abuse the Abydons' trust--it wasn't unheard of for the more powerful of two allied societies. He was pretty sure, though, that he was the first who had deliberately hidden the SGC's intentions from Abydos for fear that Abydos wouldn't cooperate otherwise.

"And what?"

"Nothing," Daniel said. That wasn't Jack's problem.

"Well, I set Maybourne free and got Kinsey on the road to the White House," Jack countered. "Imagine the SGC under _Kinsey_."

"You think Kinsey will win?"

"Ah, election's years away. We've got plenty of time left to dread that."

Daniel sighed. "Whatever happened to being a translator?"

"You translated the bomb with the Phoenician," Jack said.

"It's always bombs these days," Daniel said.

Seriously, Jack asked, "You need a break?"

"I've had too many breaks from my job lately," he said, straightening again. "I just want to go on a mission. Where we learn something that isn't considered 'intelligence.'"

Jack narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything.

"Not that...that I don't want to know more about what's happening with Apophis or..." Daniel rubbed his eyes. "But I can wish, right?"

"Is there really a mission lined up?" Jack said.

"I think there's a list of...three we had lined up from a week or two ago," Daniel said. "But nothing we specifically need to do. Unless you know what causes sandstorms, and we can go find out if Abydos is in danger of imploding."

"I don't think sandstorms have anything to do with a planet imploding," Jack told him.

"Or something," Daniel amended.

"Ask Carter," Jack said. "If she doesn't know, she'll know someone who knows, and, who knows--maybe she'll want to measure...electromagnetic...dust... something."

"Maybe."

"We have no idea what we're talking about."

Daniel smiled at his hands. "No."

"Hey, go to bed," Jack said, this time reaching out to tap him lightly on the top of the head. "It's late."

"Early," Daniel said.

"Wee hours," Jack said.

"I'll go back to bed if you will."

Jack stood up. "Yeah, okay. Try to stop thinking, all right?"

"All right," Daniel said, even though he thought his problem lately was that he didn't get the chance to think enough about the things he'd like to think about.


	20. Shifu

**_26 April 2001; Control Room, SGC; 1000 hrs_ **

"You look tired," Sam said when the unauthorized off-world activation alarm summoned them into the control room. "Late night?"

Daniel watched Jack yawn his way up the stairs behind Teal'c. "Something like that."

"Who is it?" General Hammond said.

"It's..." Sergeant Harriman turned around to face them with a frown. "SG-1, sir."

"Hello," Jack said.

"How can that be?" Sam said.

"Let's find out," the general said, then ordered, "Defense teams stand by. Open the iris."

As the iris opened, something fluttered through the wormhole and landed on the ramp, rolling to a stop just as the Stargate deactivated again. Daniel leaned forward to see what it was, and it looked almost like...paper?

"Stand down," the general said, and they followed him into the 'gate room. "What is it?"

Jack stepped up the ramp, picked it up--it _was_ paper--and returned, reading it silently. "Well?" Daniel said impatiently.

"You tell me," Jack said, handing it to him.

Daniel took the paper, surprised when he saw reddish splotches on the note. "' _Under no circumstances go to P4C-970_ ,'" he read aloud. "' _Colonel Jack O'Neill_.' That looks like your handwriting."

"It _is_ my handwriting," Jack said as Daniel handed the note over to Sam. "And that's my signature."

"Though you sent no such note," Teal'c said.

"This looks like blood, sir," Sam said.

"Have Dr. Fraiser analyze it," the general ordered. She nodded and handed the note to an airman, who headed away in into the corridor.

"General," Jack said, "wasn't '970 one of the next ones on our mission list?"

"Not anymore," the general said. "I'm not taking any chances. I want P4C-970 removed from the dialing computer immediately. Dismissed."

Daniel didn't argue but couldn't figure out what had just happened or why. Or, in fact, why the others seemed less confused than he was. "Um..." he said.

"Under very specific circumstances," Teal'c told him, "the Stargate can allow travel through time. SG-1 experienced such an event before you joined us."

"Oh, right," Daniel said, remembering the stories he'd heard about that. General Hammond must have been remembering the same thing to have accepted the warning so readily.

"I wonder why you sent it," Sam said, looking at Jack. "I wonder _when_."

"Yeah," Jack said, sitting down on the ramp. "You gotta wonder."

The klaxons sounded again, and Jack leapt off the ramp. _"Unauthorized off-world activation!"_ Sergeant Harriman called. _"Security teams to the 'gate room."_

As the security team poured in again, Daniel followed his team back out and up the stairs. "What now?" Jack said.

"Remote signal--it's the Abydos special code," Harriman said. As Daniel turned and started for the stairs again, he added, "We're receiving a transmission from the MALP!"

Daniel sighed and moved back to the console, where Skaara's face appeared on the screen, looking serious. _"Hello?"_ Skaara said into the MALP camera. _"Can you hear me?"_

Sergeant Harriman moved aside for Jack to reach the microphone, just as General Hammond returned to the control room. "Skaara--it's O'Neill. We hear you."

_"You must come,"_ Skaara said. _"There is a child here who appeared in...in a sandstorm. He says he is the son of Sha'uri. He says he is Harsesis."_

"Wha--" Daniel took the microphone from Jack, but then the only thing that came out of his mouth was, "What do you mean, 'he _appeared_?' How old is he?" Shifu was less than three years old now, might be able to speak a little but should definitely not be capable of appearing in storms.

But Skaara only shook his head. _"It is not possible; I do not understand it. My sister believes he speaks the truth, but I worry that she is being deceived."_

Jack leaned forward and said, "Skaara--you said he appeared in a sandstorm?"

Nodding and wide-eyed, Skaara said, _"This part, I saw with my eyes. There was a storm--we heard the name of Sha'uri on the wind, so we went to see. When the winds disappeared, a boy stood there, untouched by the sand or the wind. We do not know what to believe."_

"We have to go," Daniel said, turning to the general. "Sir?"

_"Dan'yel,"_ Skaara added, _"some of us heard your name, too. The boy is with Sha'uri now, but he has asked to meet you. If he is not who he says he is, how could he know of you?"_

"Any Goa'uld who wanted to could find out your name," General Hammond said, looking troubled, but no one voiced what they all must be thinking: this sounded impossible, the kind of impossible that happened in ancient myths and sometimes ended up being true. If there was technology to explain Oma Desala, they didn't know of it, so she held a myth-like position in the SGC, after the most rational of skeptics swore they had seen her conjure lightning and disappear into the sky with no understandable explanation. "You have a go," he said, "but be careful--this could be a trick."

For a moment, Daniel almost didn't care; his brother had returned to Abydos. "We're coming, Skaara," Daniel said. "Wait for us."

XXXXX

**_26 April 2001; Nagada, Abydos; 1100 hrs_ **

Once Daniel arrived and looked at the new arrival, he remembered to worry.

"I am Shifu," the boy to SG-1, then turned around and looked up at Sha'uri, who stood behind him. "I am Harsesis."

Daniel looked from the boy's face to Sha'uri. With one hand on the boy's shoulder, she said, "He speaks the truth."

"Jack," Daniel said, "could you guys give us a minute?"

Jack hesitated, giving Daniel a warning look. "We'll be right outside," he said. With a nod to Sam, Teal'c, and Skaara, he led the way out of the house and let the curtain fall shut behind them.

The boy was quiet when Daniel turned back to look at him. Lowering himself to one knee, Daniel studied the boy's face intently, searching for similarities to the baby he'd cared for over days and weeks and months, but he finally admitted, "I don't, uh...recognize you." That slight tilt of his eyes, perhaps, but if this was indeed the same person, then he had changed far too much.

"I grew like the weeds," the boy told him.

Right. They'd found nanocytes in him when he'd been at the SGC. The age difference was possible, he supposed. But--"How do you know?" Daniel said, looking up at Sha'uri.

She looked a little uncertain, but she said, "A mother knows. I can feel it."

Daniel wished very much that that could be enough for him, but the Goa'uld had tried to fool them before, and they'd used human children. "But--"

" _Kal'ma kree shashan_ ," the boy said, watching him calmly. Daniel rocked backward onto his heels. " _Kal'ma ta'i or'intani_... You recited this when I refused to sleep, as an infant. You called me _sinu'ket_ \--your small brother."

"Shifu?" Daniel breathed, reaching out tentatively to touch the boy's shoulder. "What...it's really..." He snatched his hand back, scrubbing it through his hair. "I've been hoping I'd find you somewhere..."

"Now he has found _us_ ," Sha'uri said, smiling down at her son. "He came here to learn about us--his mother whose blood he carries and the brother who cared for him."

Swallowing, Daniel said, "You remember? Even from when you were...a baby?"

"I am Harsesis," Shifu repeated patiently, as if that were enough to explain it.

At that, Daniel looked up sharply to see Sha'uri return the look, nodding determinedly. "Then, if you are Harsesis," Daniel said carefully, "does that mean you also have all of the knowledge that Apophis and Amaunet had?"

"Oma taught me to forget," Shifu said.

"Oma Desala," Daniel clarified. "From Kheb?"

Shifu nodded once. "She is my teacher." Daniel stood and looked around, almost expecting--hoping and dreading at once--to see a glowing light appear, but Shifu continued, "Oma teaches that, ultimately, a man travels his chosen path alone."

"You have forgotten all that the Goa'uld knew?" Sha'uri said, glancing at Daniel. She was the one, after all, who'd first told them what the Harsesis might mean in the war against the Goa'uld.

"Shifu," Daniel said, "do you remember the SGC? You lived there before, for a short time."

It took a moment, but then Shifu nodded. "There were many people there who wore white robes."

"White...oh. That's right--you spent most of the time in the infirmary," Daniel said, smiling at the memory. "And the nurses and Dr. Fraiser made sure you stayed healthy."

"Yes," Shifu said.

"But we also know why you've been able to grow so fast, and I'm worried it might still be happening. If it is, you would grow too old too quickly." He looked past his brother at Sha'uri and added, "Would you mind coming with us to Earth to see about that?"

Sha'uri's expression became alarmed, and she nodded behind Shifu's back. "I would like to see the SGC again," Shifu said. "It was once my home. Can my mother come, too?"

"Of course," Daniel said quickly. "I don't want to take you away from her. And you've never seen it, Sha'uri--you'll be able to speak with General Hammond and...everyone. Is that okay?"

Sha'uri nodded again. "I would like to see this place, too."

XXXXX

**_26 April 2001; VIP Room, SGC; 1700 hrs_ **

"Dr. Fraiser says that you're in no physical danger," Daniel said, climbing onto the bed to sit opposite Shifu as Sha'uri sat beside the boy. "So that's good."

"Shifu," Sha'uri said, looping a hesitant arm around his shoulder, "you know who Apophis is."

"He is the one who fathered me," Shifu said solemnly.

Daniel glanced at Sha'uri, who didn't look back at him. "Yes, that's...yes," Daniel said. "Do you know that he's hurt a lot of people?"

Shifu looked up into Sha'uri's face. "He hurt you."

For a moment, Daniel thought she wasn't going to answer, but then she said, "Yes, my son. He hurt me."

"And he hurt you also," Shifu added, turning to Daniel.

"He's hurt a lot of people I care about," Daniel agreed. There were times when he missed the days when he'd had his parents, known nothing of the System Lords, and dreamed about legends instead of trying to fight them. Daniel had chosen this life and the SGC in the end, but Apophis had ripped that other life and Abydos from him first. "We're doing everything we can to stop him, Shifu, but he's become very powerful, and we need your help."

"Oma has taught me to forget the evil I once knew," Shifu told them again.

"We know," Sha'uri said, "and if we did not have to, we would never ask you to think of such terrible things. But I have only a few memories from Amaunet; it is not enough in our battle."

"The Tok'ra have a way to help you remember," Daniel added. "Maybe, with their help, you can just remember things like...like how their technology works or what their weaknesses are."

"And perhaps this...Oma could help you to forget again," Sha'uri said.

"If the instrument is broken, the music will be sour," Shifu said. "Oma teaches the true nature of a man is decided in the battle between his conscious mind and the desires of his subconscious. Oma teaches the evil in my subconscious is too strong to resist, and the only way to win is to deny it battle."

Daniel closed his eyes briefly, quashing the familiar frustration he remembered from speaking with the guardian of the temple where they'd first met Oma Desala. "But we can't deny the battle with the Goa'uld. They'll kill us if we don't do something. They'll hurt more people."

"Oma sees much," Shifu said. "Oma says that your path is unclear."

Sha'uri exchanged a glance with Daniel. "Oma has been watching us?" she said, looking unsure whether to be wary or defensive about this other Mother.

"You fight the Goa'uld," Shifu said, and this time, he was looking at Daniel.

"I'd rather not have to fight," Daniel said carefully, "but we don't have a choice."

Maybe this was why Shifu had been drawn to the two of them, aside from connections of blood and memories. Skaara had found a way to return to life on Abydos, but Daniel was still at the SGC and Sha'uri was actively trying to help the SGC mining efforts. If Oma Desala had been watching them--and he didn't doubt she could--she must know that they were the ones with connections to Shifu who were most likely to want to use his knowledge against the Goa'uld.

"You have chosen a path that led to me because of this?" Shifu said.

"Yes," Daniel said. "I have been looking for you."

"You must release your burden before you can find your own way again."

"I released you to protect you," Daniel said, folding his hands in his lap, because he'd thought that was what the temple guardian had meant the last time they'd met, when he'd said to release his burden. But the man had mentioned hate, too, and seeing beyond what was before them, and choosing a path...

Things had been so much simpler when Shifu had been a baby.

"As did I," Sha'uri said.

"We have to fight the Goa'uld however we can," Daniel said. "I chose this path to honor the ones who have already been lost."

"And perhaps this is my role in this battle," Sha'uri added. "There is more to lose than the three of us in this room. The Goa'uld cannot be allowed to win."

Shifu turned again to study her. "I understand," he said.

"You do?" Daniel said, leaning forward.

"Yes." Shifu reached out with one hand to touch Daniel's forehead and with the other to touch his mother's. The world became dark.

* * *

Janet's face was the first thing Daniel saw when he opened his eyes. She turned away immediately and picked up a phone to say, "Colonel, he's awake."

"What happened?" Daniel said, frowning when he couldn't quite piece together--

_(...met tal arik kek ...)_

"--talking to the boy," Janet was saying, "and then you both suddenly collapsed."

Daniel sat up, shaking his head to clear it of--

_(...naquadah satak hatak...)_

\--the haziness remaining. "Sha'uri?" he said, turning his head just in time to see his sister sit up in a nearby bed.

"Dan'yel? Shifu?" Sha'uri said. "What happened?" As Daniel watched, she squeezed her eyes shut, then suddenly opened them again, catching his gaze with her own. "Can it be...?"

"Hey," Jack said, walking in and looking between the two of them. "How're you feeling?"

"Fine," Daniel said with dawning understanding as images and memories and words he didn't know flashed through his mind. "We're...fine."

"Fine," Sha'uri repeated distractedly.

"What happened with Shifu in there?" Jack said.

"We asked him for anything that could help us fight the Goa'uld," Daniel said, looking at his hands and almost expecting them to look different, now that he could almost grasp what it was that made them unable to use the most useful of the technology they'd seen.

"Yeah?" Jack said.

"He gave it to us," Sha'uri said, looking at her own hands, and Daniel remembered with a sudden flash of envy that, while he might be unable to use Goa'uld technology, Amaunet had died within his sister's body, and she _could_ use it--she could use anything they could make, and they could make just about anything now. "We know everything--not just knowledge passed on by a queen Goa'uld to her spawn, but all the knowledge gained over millennia."

Jack raised his eyebrows. " _Everything_?"

"Well--" Daniel started.

_(...in orbit...)_

"--not yet," he finished, then tapped his temple. "But Shifu gave it to us. At least..." He thought for a second. "Not Amaunet, I think. But Apophis's memories, yes."

"No," Sha'uri said, not at all doubtfully. "Only Amaunet's."

_("...almost time, my love," he whispered. "I have found you a new host.")_

Daniel stared at her. "Shifu gave you Amaunet's memories and me Apophis's."

Sha'uri tilted her head, then nodded. "I know all that the queen knew."

_Queen_.

The queen always withheld knowledge from her spawn, out of spite and jealousy; no infant Goa'uld knew as much as a queen. Not questioning how he knew that with such certainty, Daniel countered, "And I know all that the most powerful System Lord knew." Tactics, inventions...Apophis had known a lot of things Amaunet hadn't.

And yet, Amaunet had hidden things from him. Apophis hadn't known whether knowledge of Kheb had slipped accidentally into Sha'uri's mind or if Amaunet had deliberately planted the idea. Actually...Daniel wasn't sure, either, whose idea it had been. Sha'uri could be sneaky, too.

"Okay, whoa," Jack said, slicing a hand through the air. "So...she has Amaunet in her head again--sorry," he added to her, wincing, but she didn't seem to notice, "and you've got Apophis."

"We're not hosts to parasites, Jack," Daniel said. "Their knowledge, but we're in control."

"All their knowledge," Jack repeated infuriatingly. "Right now."

"It's coming; it just...it'll take a little time. We can win this war--I can see it right now..." He squeezed his eyes closed, searching through the thoughts flitting through his mind. "It's almost there. I can beat them, Jack."

"We," Sha'uri corrected, swinging her legs off the bed and standing up to give Daniel a piercing look. " _We_ will beat them."

"Right," Jack said. "Uh."

The schematics for part of the design snapped into place. Daniel fumbled in his pocket until he found his notepad and pen and started to sketch it. "Look, here," he said, closing his eyes briefly until the image became clear again. "This is the..." He paused again.

"Okay," Jack said, reaching out slowly to grasp the notepad. "Look, obviously, you two are--"

"Dammit, Jack!" Daniel snapped, pulling it back. "You don't understand. You wanted the knowledge of the Goa'uld? Now we've got it, but it's coming in...odd...leaps, so I'm having trouble putting it into words. Inertia," he said, finishing his sketch. "The...what do they call it here--you need inertial dampeners if people are in it while it's launched into--where's Sam?"

Daniel stood and checked to make sure he hadn't left anything behind him on the bed before heading out of the infirmary and toward the briefing room, where General Hammond, Sam, and Teal'c were all waiting.

Before he could say anything, though, Sha'uri said from behind him, "General Hammond, we can  protect our planets from the Goa'uld."

"Sam," Daniel said, sliding his notepad across the table to her. "You've been working on figuring out the inertial dampening systems and the propulsion on the X-302 project, but even with Martouf's help, you've stumbled in several places."

"That's tr--oh my god," she said, staring at it. "Did you draw this? Just _now_?"

"That is only a very small portion of what will be needed to complete our project, and not even the main part," Sha'uri said. "We must--"

_(shol'va)_

"--first determine all the necessary steps. Then, I and Dan'yel will devise a plan to carry out what must be done."

Daniel found his gaze drawn to Teal'c. He looked away quickly, confused by the rush of _hate-fury-traitor_ that rose in him as he turned to General Hammond instead. "Uh...I'd...you should contact the President, sir. We'll need a lot of resources, but trust me: this is the end of the war against the Goa'uld."

"Wait, wait...just...hold it," Jack said, standing in their way as both of them tried to leave the briefing room. Daniel suppressed a swell of irritation but held his ground. "So the Harsesis just magically transferred the information to you?"

"Saying the word 'magically' doesn't make it more absurd," Daniel said. "You saw what Oma Desala could do. She made him forget the secrets of the Goa'uld; why couldn't he make _us_ understand in turn?"

"You're not worried at all about the fact that he somehow--"

"No, Jack!" he scoffed. "Did you hear me? This is our way _out_ of this war. People will stop being killed by the Goa'uld..."

"We are wasting time," Sha'uri said. "Come, Dan'yel--we should go somewhere we can discuss the details of our plans."

Her words chafed--like _he_ was to obey _her_ \--but he said only, "Let's go to my office. Sam, come with us. I'm not familiar enough with all Tau'ri capabilities to know what we can expect from...our people."

_Our people_.

The SGC was his people, but beyond that? He answered ultimately to a Tau'ri leader of a Tau'ri country. He was a Tau'ri citizen by right of blood. Abydos knew Dan'yel already, but if he played things right, perhaps the Tau'ri would know him, too, and would finally acknowledge--in every way--all that he had done and would do. And as thoughts churned in his head, he remembered and saw and _knew_ exactly why so many System Lords set Earth as a target.

"There is no time to delay," Sha'uri added before following Daniel to the elevator, Sam hurrying behind them.

Sha'uri smiled amicably at Sam as Daniel pushed the button that would lead them to the archaeology office. The last thought he had before the elevator closed was the reminder that there was a reason why most System Lords didn't have partners--they couldn't be trusted.

...x...

It took days--four precious days--for Sam to understand what they had to do and for Major Davis and the bureaucrats at the Pentagon to realize this was something they needed.

"Obviously," Daniel said when they were finally all gathered at the briefing, "this defensive satellite system requires much more naquadah than is available on this planet, and much more technological sophistication and manpower than is available on Abydos. To that end--"

"I will ensure that as much naquadah as possible is retrieved from our planet," Sha'uri interrupted. "The purification methods you have been using are primitive compared to that of the Goa'uld--I will require your aid to build a refinery on Abydos in order to produce enough material to use. Dan'yel will oversee the operations on Earth."

"Excuse me?" Major Davis said.

"Is there a problem, Major?" Daniel said stiffly. When were they going to realize he wasn't just some alien with no standing who could be swept out of sight when they thought him too young or too inconvenient? "Perhaps you can explain the construction of these systems instead."

"Ah--" Jack raised a hand. "I...think the good major is just saying you're going to need help from someone who actually knows about this planet."

"And that's true," Daniel agreed. "I have the names of a few people here who can help me." His eyes unwittingly found Teal'c--

_("...within your rights to take my life as payment...")_

\--and darted away again. "Sam, I want you to supervise the science effort, of course. We've all just seen recently what happens when the Pentagon sends someone to do it," he added, with a pointed look in the direction of the Pentagon delegation.

"Dan'yel has offered the current research and science SG teams to be at my disposal on Abydos," Sha'uri said.

"That's SG-5, -7, and -11 for now," Daniel clarified, suppressing a thrill of excitement at the eager way some people listened to him now, scrambling to write down his instructions as soon as he said them. "But while Abydos can serve as one of our two main bases of operations, we may still need more naquadah than we'll get there--certainly, we'll be able to work faster if we spread out among other planets. Jack, I'd like you to coordinate the efforts of the other teams in finding enough naquadah."

"What about SG-1?" Jack said. 

Daniel shook his head. "We don't need to explore, not when we can win with what we already have. Sam will be too busy, I need you to find enough material to protect two planets, and Teal'c...obviously, there are assignments for which his skills are better tailored."

"Perhaps Teal'c can come to Abydos with me," Sha'uri said abruptly, giving the Jaffa a considering look. "I am certain we could use his skills to help us there."

"We'll finalize assignments by the end of the day," Daniel said. "Keep in mind, everyone--changes will have to be made, on Earth and on Abydos. If it seems daunting, imagine what would happen if even a single Goa'uld mothership attacked us now. No cost is too high when the reward is the lives and safety of all the billions of our people."

"I am told you have hundreds of millions of people in this nation alone," Sha'uri said. "I give you my word that the Abydons will do their part. The Tau'ri must also do theirs."

"Look," Sam said uneasily, "even if we bring in every person in America with enough clearance, it won't be enough to get this done in the timeframe you've set. I know our more advanced allies haven't always come through for us, but I'm positive the Tok'ra would--"

_(cowards traitors spies thieves)_

"--if only because it'd help them, too, not to mention that we have a treaty with them. _And_ with the Russians, by the way."

"Sam, you know as well as I do that the Tok'ra haven't always held up their end of that treaty," Daniel said, "and we were bullied into a treaty with the Russians because they were blackmailing us with secrets they'd learned from harboring a traitor. How many times have the Tok'ra almost been destroyed from within by a spy? We can't trust them. We don't _need_ them; if we split tasks, I'm sure we could find people with somewhat lower clearance who'd help us complete this."

"And," Sha'uri added, smiling, "I am certain you all know the story of the Tok'ra. Their queen years ago withheld essential knowledge from her spawn, thinking it would protect them, but in doing so, she also limited what they remembered from their ancestors."

"Isn't that what makes them _not_ evil?" Jack said.

"It also makes them...incomplete, Colonel," Sha'uri said. "As a race, they are defective by nature."

"The point is...Sha'uri and I don't suffer from that particular disability," Daniel said. "That's what's so special about the Harsesis. So in a way, you could say we're mentally _more_ advanced than the Tok'ra. We can do this without them."

He turned to Sha'uri and raised his eyebrows in question. She shook her head.

"That's all," Daniel told the others. "We'll have exactly defined assignments for you in the next several hours."

...x...

Teal'c found him in his office after Sha'uri returned to Abydos to explain to her father and all of their people. "Daniel Jackson," he said. "We have not spoken in days."

_("You're my teacher," Daniel insisted. "I'm learning from you."_

_"Very well..._ chal'ti, _" Teal'c said.)_

"Well, it's been very busy," Daniel said, not looking up from his work. There was an error in one of the plans someone had drawn up as a more primitive, Tau'ri adaptation of his original design. They were trying to take shortcuts--

_("I am to blame for the abduction and deaths of your kin," Teal'c said.)_

\--which was unacceptable. "Did you need something?" Daniel said.

"Sha'uri wishes me to serve her on Abydos," Teal'c said. Daniel nodded, reaching under his glasses to rub a tired eye. Sha'uri would know what to do with Teal'c. "But I will not leave you if you have need of--"

"You'll do what we need you to do," Daniel interrupted. "Just like everyone else. I'll manage." His friends were too distracting. No wonder they had been such a pain when--

No. That was Apophis's memory. He closed his eyes and forcibly separated it from his own thoughts, but the conclusion was the same: they were too distracting to have here now.

But Teal'c didn't move. "Something has changed in you. What did the Harsesis do to you?"

Daniel angrily slammed his pencil back down on the table. "Did it ever occur to you, between teaching me to fight and telling me Goa'uld histories, that maybe I want to be done with all of this? You want to win the war, I want to win the war--I'm giving us a way to _win the war_."

"I thought you had learned better than to believe that was all that mattered," Teal'c said in a low voice. "You have said yourself that victory means nothing if we--"

Picking up his pencil, Daniel set to work again. "I don't have time to be your _chal'ti_ right now, Teal'c."

Teal'c took a step further into the office. "Then I have failed you."

_("Danny!" his mother screamed. Teal'c raised his weapon.)_

"If Sha'uri wants you on Abydos, you should go to her," Daniel said.

"Do you wish me to go, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c said.

_("There's a Goa'uld in you," Daniel said, and, "Sometimes I want to kill it.")_

"I think you should," Daniel said, and made a mental note to warn Sha'uri about him. She would know how to handle him.

...x...

Just over two months into their project, Sha'uri appeared at the SGC again and found him in his office. "You have a _djera'kesh_ ," she said. "I want to take it back with me to Abydos."

"Why would you need a hand device?" Daniel said, already thinking rapidly over the possible uses and knowing that, among them, there still remained the primary purposes--torture, death, and personal protection.

She raised an eyebrow. "It will speed many of our operations. As you know well, there are many functions that cannot be accessed by one such as yourself."

"I have two people who can use it," Daniel said.

Still smiling slightly, she said, "The Tok'ra? You cannot trust him. And Major Carter--you told me you have had problems with her."

"I'll handle Sam," Daniel said. There were already people keeping an eye on her activities. He supposed that, if he wore a rank on his shoulders, she would listen to him without so much as a second thought. How much had he and Teal'c had to plead with her to be wary around General Bauer, while she might have simply proceeded on his orders otherwise? And now, because the orders came from Daniel...

"We cannot allow this to continue longer than it must," Sha'uri said quietly. "The faster I provide naquadah, the faster you can build the devices."

Daniel nodded, conceding the point, and reached behind his desk for the ribbon device. When she looked amused at where he'd been keeping it, he reminded her, "I've put together designs for a modified version of the Goa'uld personal shield using this. I wouldn't mock if I were you."

She took the device and threaded it over her hand. "Ah, yes," she said. "You cannot use the real thing." Daniel clenched his jaw as he watched the main crystal begin to glow. It wasn't until she allowed the device to inactivate that he realized he'd been tensing for...something.

Sha'uri wouldn't attack him, though. She didn't have enough influence on Earth, and they needed to finish building their weapons network before anything else.

"When the AG network is ready to be launched," Daniel said, "we'll launch the completed satellites from Earth first."

"Why would we do that?" she said coolly.

"They are being built by people from Earth," he pointed out. "Even you've been using the SGC's resources in your mining operation, and you have to admit most of the labor is being done here."

"And Abydons are the ones working in the mines," she countered. "Without our people and what they provide, and without the part of the designs that Amaunet knew, you have nothing."

"Well, we have the designs now," Daniel said. "Jack has four other sites ready for teams to start working, and believe me, we can find miners on this planet. If you'd like, we can start using those instead of Abydos for our naquadah supply, but then, we'd also need a lot less without Abydonian participation--just enough to cover _this_ planet with our shields."

Her smile slipped slightly. "Abydos is your home, Dan'yel," she said.

"So is Earth," Daniel said. "And the SGC is the greater threat to the System Lords--if they attack us, they will attack me first. You can afford more time--it'll only take about a week, Sha'uri."

" _I_ can afford? When did the Abydons stop being your people?" she said.

_I have the bigger, better trained army_ , he thought. "They didn't," he said. "Sister, we need each other to finish this. Think of how much Earth has done for the Abydonian people. We can't protect Abydos if it's at the expense of Earth."

A noise at the door interrupted them. Daniel turned to see Jack at the door. "Whoa!" Jack said, staring at the ribbon device.

"Do not worry, Colonel O'Neill," Sha'uri said, smiling gently at him as she held up her hand in the ribbon device. He flinched slightly, then began to relax when nothing happened. "I know exactly how to use this properly."

"Ye-eah," Jack said, not looking reassured. "That's comforting."

Sha'uri turned back to give Daniel a somewhat less warm smile. "That is good advice, brother. I wish you luck with your efforts on Earth."

Daniel watched her leave, then said, "Do you need something, Jack?"

Jack was still looking in the direction she'd gone. "What was that?" he said, jerking a thumb out into the corridor. "Was that a ribbon device on her hand?"

_("Kneel," Daniel said, raising the device on his hand. Jack knelt.)_

"What did it look like?" Daniel said, blinking to dispel the image and the rush of foreign hatred that came with it. "There are other functions than hurting people--shielding, moving material, even the heat generated... They'd all be useful for a mining operation and the minor construction taking place there. Jack, did you need something?"

"Yeah--what's with the construction on the lower levels?" Jack said.

"The control stations we have right now aren't powerful enough to accommodate the new weapons systems once they're built," Daniel said. "Don't worry; everything's planned out to the proper specifications. Sergeant Siler's watching over it."

"And about that," Jack said, taking a few steps into the office and frowning at the empty space where the other desk used to sit. "Well, not about _that_ exactly, but where's Carter? And I thought Martouf was working on stuff with her."

"Martouf's being cared for in a facility better suited for the neurological damage he suffered," Daniel said. "He's been getting worse. And Sam's...visiting her brother, I think. I told her to take a few days off. The stress was getting to her."

"Uh-huh."

Daniel raised his eyebrows. "Is there something you want to say?"

"The _stress_ was _getting_ to her?" Jack repeated. "This is Major Samantha Carter you're talking about, right?"

"Jack, you know as well as I that Sam is good with technology and imminent danger, but people? Maybe I made a mistake giving her the burden of overseeing the science efforts."

"Carter's my second," Jack said, his tone warning.

"She _was_ your second," Daniel countered. "And the point is that there's as much diplomacy needed as scientific expertise here. I've had a few other names suggested to me. Sam's used to taking orders"-- _except from me_ \--"not giving them on this scale."

"Because _you've_ got a lot of command experience."

"I've got thousands of years of command experience in my head," Daniel pointed out. "It's why people are"-- _finally_ \--"willing to trust my decisions."

"Good advice from old Apophis?" Jack said.

"Obviously, I won't use it the same way Apophis did," Daniel said, rolling his eyes, "but the knowledge and experience are there, all the same."

Jack looked around and slipped his hands into his pockets. "Right, well...where's Teal'c? I haven't seen him in weeks."

Daniel forced himself not to look away. "On a mission for me and Sha'uri."

"What mission?" Jack said.

"The mission she sent him on," Daniel said, exasperated. "Jack...don't you have work to do?"

"Nope," Jack said. "I'm sitting on base, watching miners go through the Stargate." He made a halfhearted motion with his arm, like something zooming through the 'gate, then dropped it.

"Well, I _do_ have work," Daniel said, sitting down.

"Okay, so, about _that_..." Jack started. Daniel paused, scowling. "You've been working non-stop for...what, two months now? You haven't even left the mountain since then."

"There's a lot of work to do," he said slowly. "I need the technical staff to have exact instructions if everything is to be built correctly."

"Yeah, well," Jack said. He shrugged. "Happy birthday."

Sparing a glance at a calendar on the wall, Daniel said, "I suppose it is, not that it makes a lot of difference at the moment."

"I thought maybe you'd want to come home for a day," Jack said. "I'm just worried about you, Daniel. I know how you can get when you want to finish something."

"How I can _get_?" Daniel repeated, looking up in annoyance. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Jack threw his hands up. "This! Working and not leaving the damn office. You told me you wanted to do something that didn't include bombs and weapons--"

"And you looked at me like I was crazy!" Daniel retorted, standing back up. "Wake up, Jack. We have a war to win, and we don't have time to waste."

"You know," Jack said, "before, you would have taken a day off to read and learn a language or something. _I_ might've called it wasting time, but _you_ never would have."

Daniel tapped his forehead. "Do you know how many languages Apophis knew, Jack? I don't need to learn another one now. And right now, I need you to make sure we have enough naquadah to build the system that will protect Earth from the Goa'uld forever."

Jack stared at him for a long moment. Impatient, Daniel sat back down and went back to the progress reports he'd been reading. "I just don't like what this is doing to you," Jack said. "It's a little... It's odd. For you."

_("I'm not your kid!" Daniel snapped at Jack.)_

Squashing another wave of frustration, Daniel forcibly produced a sigh and said, "And in less than a year, we'll be safe. We'll never have to deal with the Goa'uld again. You know how much I've wanted that, Jack, and I know you do, too. You trust me, don't you?"

"Daniel..." Jack said, looking remorseful, which meant Daniel had already won. "Yeah. Of course. I trust you. Just...take care of yourself."

...x...

"Come in," Daniel said at the sound of a knock. General Hammond opened the door. "General. What can I do for you?"

Hammond folded his hands in front of himself. "Mr. Jackson, we need to talk."

"Go ahead," he said.

"I hope you realize," Hammond started, "how much I've come to trust you--to rely on you--over these last years. You're...special to us and to me, you have to know that."

Daniel looked down, toying with his pen, then back up. "Yes," he said. "In many ways, I grew up under your command--under your roof, as it were."

"And I've never had cause to be anything but proud of the man you've become," Hammond said, and Daniel was surprised and disgusted by the pride that tried to surface. "Until now."

"What do you mean by that?" Daniel said calmly, quashing the odd moment of weakness. The base was his now, by order of the President. Friend of Hammond's or not, no man wanted to be remembered through history as the president who had resisted efforts to protect the planet from alien attack.

Stepping further into the office, Hammond said, "Do you remember a conversation we had once about a man named Machello? You said he'd spent his life fighting the Goa'uld, and after a while, he lost sight of what mattered. You said he'd become like a Goa'uld. I don't want to see that happen to you, but I'm starting to think I'm too late to stop it."

"I'm not stealing people's bodies, General," he said irritably.

"You're not taking hosts, no," Hammond said. "But the Goa'uld take hosts because they have to, to take _power_."

"I haven't _taken_ any power," Daniel said, pushing back from his desk and standing up. "Whatever authority I have was _given_ to me by your Commander-in-Chief, General Hammond."

"Mr. Jackson, if you still respect me at all, listen to me," Hammond said, walking closer and placing his hands on Daniel's desk. "Do you remember what I told you then? What made us different from Machello?"

_("Machello was alone," the general said.)_

"Did you count how many people you passed coming in here?" Daniel said. "All of the offices in this mountain are filled with people working alongside me. There's an entire country of people working with me, and a planet full of them just a wormhole away. You don't have anything to worry about."

"Where are your friends?" Hammond pressed. "Son, the times I've been the most afraid for you--physically or otherwise--were when you didn't have your team. It's why I finally approved your assignment to SG-1, knowing the risks. But where are they now?"

"They're fulfilling their role!" Daniel said. "Just like I am, and just like you should be. And if you can't do that..."

Hammond straightened. "Then what?" he said, challenging but with a whiff of apprehension. He knew where the power lay, too.

Daniel folded his arms, looking thoughtfully at the older man. After the number of times he'd stood before commanders and wished they didn't see him as a troubled and troubling child, he found it was surprisingly refreshing to see the tables turned. "You liked being in charge of the SGC's operations. Now that we're not working in that way anymore...well, you were about to retire before this program started, weren't you? Perhaps that would be best."

An expression crossed Hammond's face that would have seemed surprised if his bearing hadn't looked so resigned at the same time. "Daniel. You're really doing this. Is that what happened to Dr. Fraiser? Or did you threaten her and her daughter?"

"Of course not. Janet resigned--there's not much work for her to do around here, and she felt more useful elsewhere. You may have noticed our death toll is almost zero these days."

"What if I refuse to step down?" Hammond said. "What will you do to me, Mr. Jackson?"

"Nothing," Daniel said. "I won't let anyone hurt you, your granddaughters, or anyone in your family. But you won't do anything to me, either, so don't bother trying. It's time for you to retire, General. You'll see in a few months, when our project's done. You'll be honored by the world as the general who held the Goa'uld at bay until we were able to find the Harsesis."

"You know better than anyone that what the world believes isn't the same as the truth," Hammond said softly, but uselessly.

Daniel sat back down. "I'm sure you don't need anyone to escort you to the proper location, General, but I'd be happy to call someone if you need it."

"No," Hammond said, turning, and Daniel knew he'd won that one, too. "I'll show myself out."

...x...

There was no knock before Sam barged through his door. "Permission to speak, _sir_?" she said facetiously.

Daniel looked up, amused, and waved the SFs away when they tried to follow in Sam's typically unsubtle path. "What would you do if I said 'no?'"

"I talked to Skaara, Daniel," she said, pushing the door shut before she stalked to his desk.

"What were you doing on Abydos?" Daniel said. "I gave you specific instructions--"

She laughed, not quite maniacal, but close enough, for Sam. "What the hell is going on? Your brother says Sha'uri's making everyone work the mines, just like it was under Ra! He says there are warriors around, and if they're not biologically Jaffa, they're her loyal soldiers and overseers anyway. I've never heard Skaara say a word against her, and now? Don't you see what's happening?"

"Skaara doesn't remember Ra any better than I do," Daniel said, and then tapped his temple and amended, "Actually, he remembers Ra a lot worse. If it weren't for the fact that the Goa'uld are never really children, I'd have a lot of interesting childhood memories of Ra."

"Daniel!" she snapped, then took a breath, raking a hand through her messy hair. "Daniel," she said more softly. "God. What happened to the person who...who told me to risk court-martial and defy a two-star general because it was the right thing to do?"

"And who was the one who didn't want to listen?" Daniel retorted. "You were willing to build an enhanced nuclear bomb, Sam. I'm asking you to build shields."

"Shields with missiles," she said. "You don't think I found other pieces of your grand design? _And_ you're advocating enslavement. Of your own people--your own family. If that's how Sha'uri sees Abydos, is that how you see Earth?"

Of course not. Earth, with six billion people, most of whom didn't know about the Stargate program, much less Daniel's name, was a trickier situation than Abydos, which was populated by people who, on some level, were still looking to fill the void left when they'd lost the beliefs that they'd held for millennia. But Earth was the better base, too--Abydos's one advantage was its mineral supply, and that wasn't infinite. Eventually, the one who held Earth would be better off.

"Two months, Sam," Daniel said. "In two months, we'll be done. No one on Abydos will _ever_ need to work in the mines again. No one on Earth will _ever_ need to risk his or her life traveling through the Stargate again."

She pulled a chair closer to his desk and sat down next to him. "So what'll you do? You fought for years to be able to explore and learn things--think of what we've learned, Daniel! And now you're saying you'll launch the AG network, and then you're done?" She looked around the room. "What, you'll hole up and read every book in the world for the rest of your life?"

"You're oversimplifying things," Daniel said patiently, pushing down his irritation--there was more to him than reading and being their junior member who couldn't be trusted to handle anything important. "There'll be more to do after the network's in place."

"Well, obviously there's be a diplomatic side to things," Sam said, "since the whole world will...know..." She trailed off, staring at the desk.

"As we've seen ourselves, over and over," he reminded her, "there's a lot of cleanup left to do after a major event like this. As SG-1, we usually left that mess to the local people. Well, now, _I'm_ one of the local people, and I'm going to help--"

"You're not going to _help_ ," she interrupted, standing quickly and backing away. "You're..." She looked around the room again, then at one of the security monitors. "My god, Daniel--you're building a fortress out of this planet!"

"The very definition of which," Daniel said, standing up, too, "is that the defenses will be essentially impenetrable."

"To people _outside_ it, yes!" she said. "But you--you were planning this all along. You've been making this mountain your base of power. You want to rule this planet--like your sister is doing on Abydos."

"That's insane," he said, part of him amused to say that after however many times he'd been called that by someone. "I know a lot of things right now, Sam. I'm just trying to put it to use."

"Yeah, you know those things because of that damn Harsesis," she said, still backing toward the door. "What did he do to you? The truth, this time."

"You should be more polite to my family," Daniel said. He tapped the security call button with his foot.

"He's the son of two Goa'uld!" she said. "We've seen what they can do. Mind control...and, and...sending Trojan horses and..." She yanked the door open. "I'll get some answers out of him myself."

"He's on Abydos with his grandfather!" Daniel said, loud enough for everyone in the corridor to hear. "Sam, that's crazy--you need to get some perspective back--"

She marched back to him. "I want my friend back," she said angrily. "But I also want the world safe from him. The Daniel I knew would understand."

"And how will hurting my brother help you?" he said reasonably. "Shifu is a little boy who's growing up like any other little boy on Abydos. Sam, leave him alone. Calm down before you do something stupid."

"I will _not_ calm down, Daniel!" she said. "You're out of--"

"Major, we'll escort you out of the mountain," Captain Lawrence said as a security team came around the corner.

Sam turned to look at Daniel, her eyes wide. "I can't believe you're doing this," she said. "To _me_. Is this what happened to Teal'c?"

Daniel nodded to the security chief. "Maybe you'll feel better after you've had some time off," he told Sam. "Go home, Sam. Get some rest. Okay?"

As she was led away, looking stunned, one of Daniel's assistants came out of the office down the hall to say, "Wow. She's really lost it."

"The stress must have been too much," Daniel said, watching until she was safely out of sight. Turning to his assistant, he added, "I don't think she should have access into the mountain anymore, much less the Stargate. Did you hear what she wanted to do to Shifu--that little boy you met last time?"

"I'll take care of it immediately, sir," the young man said. "Should we have someone watch her outside the mountain, too?"

"For her own safety," Daniel agreed, then returned to his office and closed the door.

He reached into his drawer for his long-range communications device and activated it. It wasn't long before Sha'uri's face appeared. _"Dan'yel,"_ she said. _"It is good to see you well."_

"Have you been watching your brother?" he said without preface.

She smiled very slightly. _"Has Major Carter visited you?"_

Angrily, he said, "You knew they were talking and you didn't stop them?"

_"I was certain she would not pose too many problems for you, Dan'yel,"_ she answered. _"And as I have already told you, I am watching Skaara closely. He began asking questions about Teal'c."_

"Skaara has the ears of almost everyone in Nagada, especially the younger men," Daniel warned her. "A lot of people will listen to him."

_"Perhaps you forget how many people listen to_ me _,"_ she said. _"See to your planet, brother, and I will see to mine."_

_Our planet_ , he thought. _My planet_. "Good," he said. "Sha'uri. Watch over your son. Anyone who questions us will start wondering about Shifu, and he's defenseless."

She looked surprised for a moment, then nodded. _"I will keep him safe, Dan'yel,"_ she said, and he thought that might be the only sincere thing they'd said to each other in months.

...x...

Daniel waved Jack in when his arrival was announced. "Jack," he said, smiling as he reached into his pocket and quietly activated a modified force shield around himself. "It's nice to see you."

"You, too," Jack said, a little more subdued than normal, though that might have been because he was too absorbed in looking around the office. "Is this place bigger than it used to be?"

"Well, I got Nyan into a good school," Daniel explained, "and we don't do much translating or archaeology anymore, so it just made sense to expand the spaces that _were_ being used."

"So the SGC is pretty much..." Jack gestured vaguely around himself. "Your house."

"Not so different from before when I lived here all the time," he said, "except that there's a little more space to move around now." Jack nodded, looking awkward. "I know I haven't been able to talk to you in a while, but--"

"Ah, you've been busy," Jack said, waving it off. He glanced at the console where Daniel was sitting. "Obviously."

Daniel switched on the monitor, making Jack jump as images appeared on the far wall. "Did you come to watch the launch?" he asked, knowing Jack knew about the top secret date, even though he'd been taken off direct involvement with the project months ago.

"Is that today?" Jack said, unconvincingly, and then, "Is Abydos launching today, too?"

"No; those won't be ready for a few more days," Daniel answered, watching the personnel on the screen make their way to their posts. "But soon, yes, and Sha'uri should be arriving any minute to watch this with us."

"How is she?" Jack said, turning in a slow circle as if unsure where to focus his attention. "She must've been pretty busy on Abydos."

_(don't trust her)_

"Apparently," Daniel agreed calmly. "You know, we've divided things and...there's just been so much to finish that I don't know everything that's been going on. But it's almost over, right?"

"Mm-hm," Jack said. "So...is there some sort of schedule, or...?"

"You're actually a couple of hours early for the scheduled launch," Daniel told him, "but it's okay--we're mostly just waiting now."

"Ah," Jack said.

"How have things been?" Daniel said, then saw an alert on his screen. Jack started to answer, but Daniel held up a hand to cut him off as he reached with the other for his communication device. "Lieutenant Grane," he said once he saw the face in the ball's metallic surface.

Jack frowned. "What is--since when have you had one of those? And who is that?"

"He's been stationed on Abydos," Daniel said absently. "Lieutenant, what is it?"

_"She's launched their network ahead of schedule, sir,"_ Grane reported. _"I think she's planning to target Earth, and there are some modifications that you were never sent."_

"Sir?" Jack repeated as Daniel's grip tightened on the ball, and then, " _She_? As in Sha'uri?"

_"If the missiles on your side are ready, I believe a preemptive strike may be--"_

"No," Daniel snapped. He wasn't destroying Abydos. Loyalties might be tenuous there, but at the very least, he needed to retrieve Shifu first. "I'll handle it."

Jack leaned over to see. "Is that--you planted a _spy_ on Abydos?"

Daniel gave Jack a sharp look and deactivated the communications device without another word, then said, "You know that already, don't you? Sam told you when you visited her in her cell."

He was rewarded by a slight tensing of Jack's muscles, but no answer.

Returning to his task, Daniel stood up and reached into his drawer for the weapons he'd need. "I should have known she'd lie," he muttered. "They weren't supposed launch their network until after we did--"

"Why is that?" Jack said as Daniel began to leave the room. He turned around to see Jack frowning at him. "I mean, why not just launch all at once on both planets?"

"The politics are a little more complicated on this side," Daniel pointed out, "and the Goa'uld threat is more serious here. I don't have time for this, Jack--if Sha'uri's launched ahead of schedule and is targeting Earth before we're ready to get ours into the air... Major," he added to one of his subordinates as he left the room, "get the network into orbit _now_ , deal with the repercussions on Earth as quickly as you can by whatever means necessary, and go on alert for an attack from Abydos."

"Yes, sir," the major said.

"Daniel!" Jack said, following him out. "What do you mean--"

Ignoring him, Daniel passed a control device to the major. "I'm authorizing you to use the override if you encounter resistance from Washington."

"What?" Jack said, then grabbed his arm and pulled him to a halt. Four guards pulled their weapons. Jack let go and held up his hands. "Daniel, what the hell is that?"

"Our way to win the war," Daniel said, then added to the guards, "Everyone stand down. No one, under any circumstance, hurt Colonel O'Neill. Jack, we've seen what happens when we leave things to bureaucrats. I can't have people waste time when we have the means to end all of our problems _before_ real damage can happen."

"You think Sha'uri's going to attack Earth because she got her system up first," Jack said, following him down the hall to the transport room. "What were you going to do when you got _your_ system up first?"

"I think she's going to attack Earth because my operative told me so," Daniel said, pulling the door open. "She knows she can't work effectively from Abydos, so she wants to take Earth before we have a chance to stop her. The situation isn't the same in reverse."

"No," Jack said, still following him, "because you just handed over a button to take over the _President_! Daniel, this is--holy crap, you're bringing a gun and...and a...what is that, a knife? To meet your sister!"

"She made the first move."

A door slammed shut, leaving the two of them alone in the room. "Stop right now and take that override thing back," Jack said, but his command voice was tired and out of practice. "This is treason--this is...worse than treason. This is what the Tollan were afraid of when--"

Daniel turned around, holding up another controller. "Don't worry; if my man betrays me, I can still override him. Jack, this is the way things are going to be now. You can stand with me or--"

Jack reached under his jacket, pulled out a handgun, and fired.

The bullets stopped less than an inch from Daniel's chest and dropped to the ground, easily blocked by his personal shield. He sighed, watching Jack lower his gun. "I feel sorry for you," Daniel said honestly. "I know what it must have cost you to pull that trigger."

"Yeah," Jack said quietly, slumping and staring at the gun in his hand. "You do."

"Don't worry," he added, reaching for the control panel on the wall and stepping onto the platform. "I've already given you immunity with my people. You're going to be a hero, Jack." Rings shot up around him and transported him below to the embarkation room.

...x...

Daniel found Sha'uri at her console in Ra's pyramid. "So it's true," he said, glancing at the monitor long enough to see that she'd sent their weapons system into orbit minutes ago. Earth's coordinates had been set as a target, and guided missiles were on their way, but the network on Earth should be up by the time they arrived. "You lied about how much you'd managed to complete on Abydos and launched before schedule."

She nodded to the guards around her, who obediently left the two of them alone in the pyramid. Daniel looked back at her console, saw that she was still wearing her ribbon device, and clasped his hands behind his back to reach for the knife he kept there. He still had his shield and she would have her own, but a ribbon device or a knife could still penetrate enough to kill.

"I have a proposal," Sha'uri said, standing up. "Join me."

"Why would I?" Daniel said. "I have all of Earth at my disposal. We can build faster there than you can here. Besides, I've heard that a few key people--including your father and your brother--have become suspicious of you."

"And I hear the same is true of you on Earth, from your friends," she retorted. "You imprisoned Major Carter even before I was forced to do the same with Skaara. But together, we can do much more. You cannot rule a planet on your own."

"I don't need to," he said. "I have a lot of people loyal to me. The answer is 'no,' sister."

"What a shame," Sha'uri said, and raised her ribbon device.

Daniel drew his knife and plunged it toward her--

\--and felt something sharp ram into his chest before he could finish.

The knife dropped from his fingers. Daniel looked down to see Sha'uri's other hand holding a blade of her own, his blood spilling onto her fingers, and he thought with an odd sense of wonder that, for all the times he'd thought he was going to die, the only time he actually had so far was at the hand of his brother, and that now it would happen again fighting his sister...

* * *

**_26 April 2001; Infirmary, SGC; 2200 hrs_ **

"Dan'yel!" Sha'uri cried. " _Na nay--_ Dan'yel..."

With a gasp, Daniel sat up and turned toward her voice. "Sha'uri," he said, patting himself and finding no blood or weapons or... "Oh, gods," he said as images flooded his mind--not those of Goa'uld devices, this time, but rather of what he would have done with that knowledge. "What did we--"

"Dr. Fraiser!" Skaara called.

Daniel just had enough time to register his brother's presence before Sha'uri flung herself onto his bed and lifted his shirt up frantically. "Oh, my brother," she breathed, sagging when she found nothing wrong and wrapping her arms around him. "Forgive me."

"I'm sorry," he said back, clutching her to himself. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I can't believe...how could I have..."

"I would have killed you," she said. "I would have--"

"And I was going to--" he started, then gave up and squeezed her tight, tangling his fingers in her hair.

"That is what we were asking," she whispered into his shoulder. She pushed back suddenly, her eyes wide. "Shifu. We asked for knowledge of the Goa'uld. Where is my son?"

"Sha'uri," Skaara said, utterly confused as he looked between the two of them. "Dan'yel. What--"

"Where is he?" Daniel said urgently, turning to Janet as she hurried into the infirmary. "Where's Shifu--"

_("You can't do this," Janet said angrily. "This isn't right!"_

_"We won't be needing your services anymore, Janet," Daniel said. "These men will escort you back to the surface.")_

"Are you okay?" Janet said as Daniel flinched away from her.

"F-fine," Daniel lied.

"They just woke up?" Janet said to Skaara, who nodded wordlessly. "Shifu is with SG-1 and Aldwin right now, so don't worry. You've both been unconscious. I need you to--"

Sha'uri scrambled off the bed, freeing Daniel to extract himself, too. "We have to stop them," Daniel said, grabbing Sha'uri's hand and leading her out of the infirmary.

XXXXX

**_26 April 2001; Observation Room, SGC; 2200 hrs_ **

Jack thought there was something unnatural about how Shifu didn't seem at all worried about being strapped into the _zatarc_ detector and didn't even flinch when Aldwin stuck the memory disc onto his temple. He decided he'd liked the kid more as a baby, when there hadn't been any sign of zapping people into comas.

_"Questions are plentiful,"_ Shifu was telling Aldwin sagely as Teal'c stood guard at the door and Carter helped to set up the machine. _"Answers are few."_

Yeah. There hadn't been any of this crap, either.

"He'd better have a few answers about how to wake up Daniel and his mom," Jack said quietly in the observation deck. The general didn't answer, but he looked like he agreed.

_"First question,"_ Aldwin said. _"What is your name?"_

_"Shifu,"_ Shifu said.

Jack glanced up at the monitor. Truth. Not particularly helpful, in the 'what's in a name' sense.

_"Are you Harsesis?"_

_"I am many things,"_ Shifu said.

"Oh, come on," Jack muttered.

Aldwin looked similarly frustrated but said more precisely, _"Do you possess the genetic knowledge passed on to you by Apophis?"_

_"Yes,"_ Shifu said.

Jack looked up at the monitor again. Truth. So he _was_ the Harsesis. "That doesn't mean he has good intentions," General Hammond said, looking up at the screen, too.

Echoing the general's thoughts, Carter said, _"What did you do to your mother and Daniel?"_

Shifu turned to looked at her thoughtfully, then said, _"Dreams sometimes teach. I am teaching them."_

_"Teaching them what?"_ Carter pressed.

_"That the true nature of a man is determined between his conscious mind and his subconscious...and that the evil in my subconscious is too strong to resist."_

Which Jack thought was pretty much a load of crap until Daniel appeared in the doorway with his sister in tow and walked into the lab. _"The only way to win is to deny it battle,"_ Sha'uri said. Skaara showed up behind them a second later, looking considerably more confused about this than his siblings were.

Shifu nodded, watching them as Sha'uri quickly undid the straps holding him to the _zatarc_ detector. _"As Oma teaches."_

Dr. Fraiser walked into the observation deck. "They woke up just now," she said. "They were very insistent on getting to the boy."

Daniel looked around the lab, skimming over the people gathered in there, and finally smiled feebly at Shifu. _"I suppose I should start listening to her,"_ he said.

_"What happened?"_ Carter said.

Not looking away from Shifu, Daniel pulled his sister closer to himself and said, _"We were having a dream."_

_"You were..._ a _dream, like both of you were having the same one?"_ she said. Daniel and Sha'uri looked at each other. _"About what?"_

_"I--I don't..."_ Daniel started, then stopped. _"It doesn't matter. But..."_

_"We must choose a different path,"_ Sha'uri said.

_"Yes,"_ Daniel agreed, looking down at the floor.

Shifu nodded again. _"Then it is time for me to continue on mine."_

Skaara was looking up into the observation deck wearing an expression that said, _'what the hell?'_

Jack nodded to Hammond, then quickly descended into the corridor outside the lab in time to see Sha'uri drop to one knee as Shifu climbed out of the _zatarc_ detector and to the floor. She brushed her hand over his hair and down his cheek. "Will we see you again?" she whispered, which was when Jack realized something was going wrong and slipping very quickly out of their control.

"All roads eventually lead to the great path," Shifu said.

"Eventually," Daniel said wistfully.

"Many cross on the way," Shifu added.

"I am very proud of you, my son," Sha'uri said, starting to cry softly as she pulled him in for a hug that Jack had a feeling was to be their last.

"Thank you, mother," Shifu said, smiling for the first time when she released him. He turned to Daniel and added, "And I am proud of you, brother." Daniel stared at him but didn't answer. He looked like he couldn't do much more than stand still at the moment. Shifu looked up briefly at Skaara and nodded once. Skaara glanced at Jack, who had no more idea about what was going on than anyone, and awkwardly patted the boy on the head. "My burden is released," Shifu said.

"What is happening?" Aldwin said. "We cannot just let him leave?"

Before Jack could warn him about what had happened last time they'd seen Shifu, on Kheb, with the glowy mother, Carter spoke up to say, "I don't think we have a choice."

Shifu closed his eyes. He began to glow, more and more until Jack was squinting. There was nothing left of the boy but light, just like Oma Desala, and it floated gently toward the door. Daniel tugged Sha'uri to her feet and hurried out of the lab, following Shifu.

An alarm started to sound. Quickly, Jack turned toward the observation window and called, "General, I _highly_ recommend you order all personnel to stand down and get the heck out of the way. The alternative might not be pretty."

Before anyone could answer, he gestured to Carter and Teal'c and left the lab, catching sight of Skaara as he rounded a corner in the direction of the stairs.

_"All personnel, this is General Hammond. A glowing energy being is moving through the base, likely heading for the 'gate room. Lower your weapons and do not attempt to intercept it."_

Jack reached the control room and saw Daniel and Sha'uri standing in front of the window with Skaara hanging close by and the energy-being hovering before an active wormhole.

"The 'gate just opened, sir," Sergeant Harriman said.

On the ramp, Shifu's figure appeared again amidst the bright light and turned around to wave at them.

Sha'uri raised a hand slowly and leaned against Daniel, resting her head against his shoulder. Daniel grasped her hand in his own and waved back at Shifu. The boy turned around and stepped into the event horizon. The Stargate deactivated.


	21. SG-5

**_26 April 2001; Control Room, SGC; 2210 hrs_ **

Daniel and Sha'uri both stood staring out the window at the Stargate until Sergeant Harriman started to look uncomfortable with the two of them right behind him.

"Daniel," Jack said quietly. "And, ah...Sha'uri. Why don't we go into the briefing room and you can explain what just happened?"

"Are you well?" Teal'c added, watching both of them carefully as they walked mechanically toward the briefing room. He looked like he didn't think the answer was 'yes.'

"Dr. Fraiser said there was nothing wrong with them," Skaara said hopefully.

"What day is it?" Daniel said.

Jack stared at him, then looked at his watch. "The twenty-sixth," he said.

Sha'uri frowned. Jack expected Daniel to explain their calendar to her, but he only said, "Is that...how long have we been asleep?"

"Almost five hours," Carter said.

"What?" Daniel said, pulling out a seat but not sitting down. "But..."

"It was a dream," Sha'uri reminded him.

"Yes," Daniel said, looking to where his fingers were still entwined with his sister's. "A dream."

General Hammond walked into the briefing room, Aldwin close behind. "What happened?" he said.

"Shifu left," Jack started, pointing to the Stargate. "And as for the rest...well..."

"I do not know where to begin," Sha'uri said.

"Shifu showed us why it was so important to forget that knowledge," Daniel said. He looked up at Hammond, then let his eyes shy away again. Hammond looked as confused as anyone about why. "Like Teal'c has told us before, that knowledge is why Goa'uld are born evil. And like Anise explained partially last year, it's why the Tok'ra are almost all descended from Egeria."

"Wh--" Jack held up a hand. "It's why the Tok'ra what?"

"A Goa'uld is born with the knowledge of the queen who birthed it," Sha'uri said, "but the Goa'uld are...envious." She glanced at Daniel. "They do not easily relinquish knowledge or power, even...even to their kin."

"You're saying they pick and choose," Carter said, fascinated. "Queens can decide what memories to pass on to their offspring?"

Jack glanced at Aldwin, who hesitated, but nodded. "Yes. It is one of the differences in a queen Goa'uld, and we theorize that it was this that allowed the Tok'ra to be born as we are today, against the Goa'uld System Lords."

"But not so with a Harsesis," Teal'c clarified. "Shifu carried all of the knowledge that made both Amaunet and Apophis evil. A child born with such knowledge would be as evil as the Goa'uld."

"We could have extracted only the pertinent knowledge, not those memories of evil," Aldwin protested. "There is much that a Goa'uld like Apophis would have learned in the years since Egeria's split from the System Lords. We only need specific knowledge."

"It is not only memories of evil that causes a Goa'uld to become what it is," Sha'uri said quietly. "It is the knowledge itself, and it is...difficult to see until it is too late. In the dream, my son showed us what would have happened if he had given the knowledge we asked for."

"Well," Carter said, "I mean, I guess it would be difficult to extract one memory without disturbing any others associated with it...or does it have something to do with how Oma made Shifu forget to begin with?"

"It's not that, Sam," Daniel said. "Knowledge is power. That's a saying here, yes? And when the knowledge is of weapons and the best way to win a war..." His gaze moved toward Teal'c but stopped halfway and went back to Aldwin. "If you don't trust me, trust Egeria's methods. There's a reason you're different from the Goa'uld, and what we asked of Shifu... You wouldn't have liked the result."

Jack hadn't thought Daniel's thoughts could make any less sense than usual. He'd been wrong.

"It's not that we don't trust you and your sister, Mr. Jackson," the general said carefully, "but we don't understand what you mean."

"I am told that you command this place honorably, General Hammond," Sha'uri said. "If you had the knowledge that you seek, you would not command so well, and many would suffer for it."

"General," Daniel said, "even if we wanted to get Shifu back, we can't. He's left. A lot of what just...happened...was personal to Sha'uri and myself. Can you please just accept that we can't get that knowledge? And, by Shifu's own words and Oma's--and Egeria's--actions, we shouldn't try again."

"I'm sorry," Hammond said, looking genuinely apologetic under his bewilderment, "but that's not enough."

"I'll...I'll explain everything that's relevant in my report, sir," Daniel said.

Jack happened to be sitting across the table from Skaara. Skaara looked like he thought he might be dreaming, because that was the only way anything this weird was happening. Jack decided Skaara was a sensible guy,

"All right," Hammond finally said. "I need to know, but if you'd like--if it's too personal--I'll keep the report sealed, son." Daniel tensed minutely, then nodded before Jack could protest that the rest of them would really like to know, too. "Aldwin, you can return to the High Council whenever you're ready. Sha'uri, Skaara, are you returning to Abydos, or...?"

"Our father must be worried," Skaara said. "He does not know yet all that has happened."

Sha'uri didn't speak up to agree. "Do you think we can have a few minutes to ourselves before they leave?" Daniel said, his voice strained. "Sha'uri and I."

"Of course," Hammond said slowly. "The Abydonian people are welcome here, you know that. Take as long as you need."

"Thank you, sir," Daniel said, and, without looking at anyone at all, stood up and led Sha'uri away toward the elevator.

Skaara stopped halfway out of his chair, like he couldn't decide whether to get up or sit back down. "Uh," he said.

"You're dismissed, too," the general said, nodding to the rest of SG-1. "Do me a favor and keep a close eye on Mr. Jackson. If nothing else, he just lost Shifu again."

"Yes, sir," Jack said. When General Hammond returned to his office, he added, "And...Skaara, look out for your sister over the next while. She still lives with your dad, right? Just keep an eye on her, make sure she's okay."

Skaara nodded but said, "I still do not understand."

"That makes two of us," Jack said. He looked around the table and amended, "Four of us. Actually, no, I think everyone on this base is pretty much lost."

...x...

Daniel and Sha'uri emerged from his quarters less than half an hour later, both a little more composed and Sha'uri holding something that looked like part of the robe Shifu had been wearing. Daniel watched her and Skaara leave from the control room.

Jack chose to believe Daniel just hadn't noticed the rest of the team standing around him after the wormhole closed, because he kept his head down and started out of the control room right away and back toward the stairs. "Hey," Jack said. Daniel stopped, took a visible breath and turned back around to face them.

"Yes?" Daniel said.

"Um," Carter said. "Do you... Are you okay? Can you tell _us_ what happened, now that no one else is around?"

Part of Jack had almost expected Daniel to nod and say, _'yeah, okay.'_ A couple of years ago, when he'd leaned more heavily on them, he might have. Instead, he said, "I'd rather not. It's not, uh...it's not relevant to the..." He sighed and tried again. "I've already told you everything that's relevant to Shifu and the concept of the Harsesis. That chapter is closed."

Then he turned right around and kept going until he reached level 25.

Exasperated, Jack started to follow him all the way back to his quarters, but Teal'c stepped up first and said, "Perhaps you would like to join me in _kelno'reem_ , Daniel Jackson."

Daniel actually flinched before he said, "I--no." He made that same, odd glance upward toward Teal'c's face and then stopped and stared at Teal'c's chest instead. "I think...maybe...I can't. Tonight. I'm sorry. It's not..."

"Do not apologize, my friend," Teal'c said, but this time, even the Jaffa looked confused.

"Want to head home?" Jack suggested, looking at his watch, so he almost missed the stricken expression that crossed Daniel's face at those words that they said casually to each other at least once week. "Or...not."

"I'm sorry," Daniel said.

"Daniel, don't be sorry," Carter said, frowning in concern and reaching forward slightly.

"I'm sorry," he repeated, leaning away and reaching back until he touched the handle to his door. "That dream--it felt like...a long time, and I'm just having a little trouble remembering it's not real, so...I really need some time to think everything through. Okay?"

Jack held up his hands and backed up two steps, just so it didn't feel like they were ganging up on him against a wall. He wondered what they had done to Daniel in the dream to make him this skittish around _them_ , of all people. "You know it was just a dream, right?" Jack said. "Whatever happened, it wasn't real. We wouldn't hurt you or--"

"Gods, no!" Daniel interrupted urgently. "I know. Of course. Please don't take offense. He just gave us a lot to think about."

"Okay," Jack agreed. "But you have to turn in the report tomorrow anyway, so...talk to us tomorrow, all right?"

"I'll talk to you tomorrow," Daniel repeated, pulling the door open and disappearing inside.

Jack stared at the closed door, then looked at his watch again. It was one of those odd times when it was too late to go home and too early to stay on base, and those odd days when he thought someone should be watched over but had no right to intrude quite yet.

"I will keep watch," Teal'c said simply, which solved a lot.

XXXXX

**_27 April 2001; Archaeology Office, SGC; 0900 hrs_ **

Jack tried not to be angry when he first walked into the office, but this really wasn't the conversation he'd envisioned having first thing this morning after being told by Teal'c that there hadn't been much sleeping done the night before, by either of them. So he kept the report under his arm and walked in casually and even remembered to knock first on the wall.

"Good morning," Daniel said, looking up calmly. "Before you say anything, Jack, I apologize for worrying you all last night. As you can imagine, it was, uh...an odd experience."

" _Can't_ really imagine," Jack said, "since we don't know what happened." Daniel's expression faltered a little. "You were both pretty shaken up."

"We're never going to see Shifu again," Daniel said. "Not until we...meet on the great path, anyway, and Sha'uri had just met him for the first time. It wasn't easy."

But that wasn't it, and Jack didn't have to be a genius to know it. "So now you're over it?" he said, holding up the report. "And you want to go play with another team?"

"It sounds interesting, that's all," Daniel said. "SG-5 came back late last night with--"

"Goa'uld writing," Jack finished. "Yeah, I know, I read your report."

"Really?" he said, genuinely surprised.

Jack took a minute to decide how to play that, then settled on serious. "Things don't always turn out so well when I let you go with another team to an abandoned planet."

"We can't start second-guessing that all the time," Daniel said reasonably. "There are no heat signatures on P4X-347 to indicate complex life signs as far as the sensors reach--except maybe the ocean, which they think is fish"--Jack opened his mouth to speak--"and yes, Jack, they checked, and there's no possibility of Goa'uld survival in it."

Jack closed his mouth.

"And maybe in the building itself," Daniel added, pointing to the report, "but there's too much technology in there to separate out signatures properly to indicate any life, so SG-5 has searched it for over a week and it really seems empty. It's as safe as anything ever gets off-world."

"They asked for _you_ to go back with them?" Jack said.

"They asked for someone who could read Goa'uld and figure out what dialect it is," Daniel said, "and for the sheer volume of text to translate in...however much time the SGC gives them, that has to be either me or Teal'c. Or Martouf, who...can't go on missions, and this isn't the kind of thing Teal'c does."

Nodding, Jack flipped through the report again. "You really want to go here, huh."

"It's just...been a while since a research trip didn't turn into something worse," Daniel agreed quietly. "Jack, you said yesterday that you're not looking for another mission right away, and _I_ wouldn't mind taking one."

_("Whatever happened to being a translator?" Daniel said.)_

"Yeah." Jack dropped into another chair. "Is that what you meant last night when you said you had to choose another path?"

"I'm not transferring to SG-5, Jack. It's one mission."

Which didn't answer the question. Jack raised his eyebrows.

"It's a little more complicated than that," Daniel amended. "I think. I haven't quite figured out what it means yet."

"Does it have something to do with leaving the SGC?" Jack asked. "Or SG-1?"

Daniel's expression was surprised, which was a relief. "N--why would you think that?"

"We don't know what to think," Jack pointed out. "You haven't been telling us much about what that kid did to you."

With a sigh, Daniel folded his legs under himself on the chair, something he did only rarely these days. His legs were too long for that to feel comfortable anymore unless he really wanted to squash himself as small as possible. "Shifu didn't _do_ anything to us," he said. "He just...showed us some things about ourselves and made us think about...things we haven't thought about in a while."

"You see?" Jack said. "I have _no_ idea what that means."

"I'm not sure I know, either," Daniel admitted, "so I won't do anything--change anything--until I figure it out."

"It'd help if we knew what the dream was about," Jack prompted.

"It was personal," Daniel said again.

"Too personal for me?" Jack said, not very hopefully.

"Yes," he said. "Jack, let me go and spend a few days doing what I'm supposed to do: decipherment, translation, taking notes on ancient buildings... SG-5 said it's very relaxing," he added.

"I noticed they turned right around and went back as soon as they could," Jack allowed.

"Exactly. I can join them as soon as I pass the 24-hour observation period starting from"--he looked at his watch--"whenever it was that I woke up from Shifu's dream. We could all use a few days' break. We've been on a hard schedule, and we're getting tired--I know you are."

It did look from SG-5's preliminary report that it'd be a nice place to relax for a while, Jack conceded, and Daniel would probably love it, with all that to study and no Goa'uld around. SG-5 liked him; they'd take care of him.

"I always used to argue with Robert," Daniel said. Jack held his breath, because this grief was one Daniel rarely shared aloud with them. "He took me on to be his student, and I...I liked that, Jack, I loved it, I did, I loved learning from him and with him--"

"I know," Jack said quietly.

Daniel nodded, looking at his desk. "He used to tell me I should be on a research team. That I could be good at it. And I'd say that sometimes we have to put books down and pick up weapons, and I...I know it's still true, and I still think that, and I know SG-1 does both. I argued that. But now that there's...there's no one to argue back..."

"I know," he said again. "I get it."

"It's just one trip. We're not on the exploration roster now."

And it was true that they needed a break, too--Jack was having a hard time remembering that it had only been a couple of days since he'd been with Maybourne and everyone else had almost blown up or died of radiation poisoning. And before that, they'd had two emergency missions in a week, and one the week before, and Heru-ur in the Tobin mine field before that... Jack had told Daniel he wasn't looking forward to another mission this week, and if they went on missions worn out and thinking like that, it was a quick way to get killed or get someone _else_ killed. Daniel was young and a workaholic--when he got tired, what he needed more than a sleeping marathon was to do something that would get him excited about work again.

"All right," Jack said. "Write up your report today, turn it in, and you can join SG-5 tomorrow."

"You could take a few days and go fishing," Daniel suggested.

"Yes, sir," Jack said with a salute, just to make him grin and roll his eyes, but he received a frown instead.

XXXXX

**_28 April 2001; Control Room, SGC; 1800 hrs_ **

After dropping Daniel off on Saturday to go join SG-5, Jack stayed on base to help Hammond finish moving back into his office and to clean up a few last details--and were there a _lot_ of details to clean up after the last two weeks--so he happened to be near the control room when Lieutenant Barber of SG-5 stepped through the wormhole.

"Daniel wanted this to be sent back," Barber said, holding up a camera memory card as he stepped out of the wormhole and hurried up the stairs. "He was wondering if Teal'c would take a look at some of text we filmed. No trouble so far, sir."

"He is having difficulties with the text?" Teal'c said.

_"Yes,"_ Daniel said for himself through the MALP. Jack turned to the monitor to see Daniel waving at them through the camera. _"It feels like...I'm close, but it's one of those dialects you just can't quite put a finger on, you know?"_

"No," Jack told him.

"I would be happy to assist you, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said.

To Jack's surprise, Daniel grinned, looking actually and completely happy. _"Thanks! Oh gods..."_ His face took up most of the monitor, but Jack was pretty sure his arms were flapping around somewhere off-screen. _"You have to see this. Sam would--is Sam there?"_

Carter leaned over and said, "Yeah, I'm here, Daniel."

_"Sam, there's a...a...thing here, it's like a...like...it's really cool!"_

"Wow," Jack muttered.

Major Pendleton's face replaced Daniel's, and he added, _"He's talking about the light display we mentioned in the first report. It's absolutely amazing--in fact, there are quite a few things about this place we're still trying to characterize."_

_"You should come see it, Sam,"_ Daniel added, sticking his nose back in. _"You'd love it."_

"We're on vacation," Jack told him, though he was more relieved than exasperated. "Some of us actually stop working when we're on vacation."

_"You're on vacation, Jackson?"_ someone said some distance away.

_"Yes, but Sam would have fun here,"_ Daniel insisted.

Jack looked at Carter, who shrugged. "Maybe," she said. "I'll see if I have time." Because, of course, Major Carter also worked through her vacations and called it 'relaxing,' and she was busy with some project or other already.

_"It's really, really amazing."_

"Okay, Daniel," Jack said pointedly. "We're holding up the Stargate."

_"Right,"_ Daniel said, and moved out of the way.

_"Nothing of importance to report yet, sir,"_ Major Pendleton said.

"Thank you, Major," Hammond said, finally getting a word in. "Carry on." The wormhole flickered out. As the crowd near the console began to disperse, Hammond gave him a wry look.

"He always gets a little overexcited on these assignments, sir," Jack said, pleased.

"We've all been enjoying this one, sir," Barber added. "General...?"

"Dismissed, Lieutenant," Hammond said nodding.

"Teal'c," Barber said, turning to the Jaffa, "I can show you the files Daniel had questions about."

"I will begin immediately," Teal'c said.

...x...

**_30 April 2001; Embarkation Room, SGC; 0900 hrs_ **

The next--and last--time they saw Lieutenant Dean Barber, he was diving into an unstable vortex.

"Oh my god," Carter said, standing frozen where she'd been dialing the DHD.

"Shut it down and call the general!" Jack yelled in the direction of the control room. "And Teal'c, too! Carter," he added, tapping her on the shoulder to wake her up before running back up the stairs.

Hammond met them just as they arrived. "What happened?"

"Barber killed himself," Jack said.

"What?" The general looked sharply into the 'gate room as if expecting to see a dead body there, and Jack's first coherent thought was that they wouldn't be able to send his dog tags to anyone, which made him wonder if Barber had family.

"He ran into the unstable vortex, sir," Carter said, still sounding stunned. "And not by accident or...he must have timed it exactly and dived in at the right--"

"But why?" Hammond said.

Jack could only shake his head. He'd barely known the kid--talked to him a handful of times, maybe, including during his training run before joining the program. "He might've seemed a little quiet just now," he offered, "but I don't know, sir. He didn't say anything to me."

"I didn't talk to him, either," Carter said. "Maybe Teal'c noticed something while they were working with the recording equipment--"

"Wait," Hammond said as the Jaffa ran up the stairs. "We need to recall the rest of his team. Major Carter, dial up '347 again."

Carter nodded and hurried back down the stairs to the DHD, and this time, a few people in the 'gate room flinched at the familiar, everyday sight of the vortex. Jack nodded to Teal'c and followed her down the stairs, explaining as they went, "Lieutenant Barber threw himself into the vortex."

_"SG-5, this is Stargate Command. Come in,"_ the general's voice called.

Teal'c frowned at him as they entered the 'gate room and joined Carter at the bottom of the ramp. "Why would he have done such a thing?"

"Guess that answers the question of whether you thought he was suicidal," Jack said.

_"General, this is Major Pendleton,"_ a voice returned.

_"All personnel return to base immediately. There's been an incident."_

There was a short pause, and then, _"Yes, sir. We'll pack up and return now."_

The wormhole closed again, and minutes later, the 'gate activated from the other side. Jack stuck his hands into his pockets and waited until the SG-5 IDC was announced, and the team and their temporary translator stepped onto the ramp.

"Jack," Daniel said, hurrying down and making his way toward them, "you have to see this."

"Daniel," Jack cut him off, rethinking the wisdom of letting him go on this trip, after all, if one of his teammates was going to kill himself halfway through. "There's been an incident."

"Yeah, I know," Daniel went on, waving a hand dismissively in a way that made Jack want to tell him to stop being so happy right now, "we got the message, but this is really important. There's this light, and...and it's in this amazing--"

"Barber's dead," Jack said bluntly.

Finally, Daniel stopped. So did SG-5. "What?" Major Pendleton said. " _Our_ Barber?"

Jack nodded, sorry he'd said it like that now. "Come on," he said. "We need to talk."

It was a much less cheerful group that made its way up the stairs and into the briefing room. "How did he die?" Captain Lithell said as they filed into the room, where General Hammond was already standing at the head of the table.

Deciding he'd botched that part of it enough for one day, Jack turned to Hammond, glad for the umpteenth time that he himself wasn't the general. "Everyone, please be seated," the general said. "I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but Lieutenant Barber was killed just before rejoining you on P4X-347 when he ran into the unstable vortex of the opening wormhole."

"How would he..." Captain Jameson started, then stopped, his eyes widening. "On purpose? Not like he just...didn't move out of the way?"

"It was definitely deliberate," Carter said. "And actually, in retrospect...he did look a bit upset before..." She gestured uncomfortably toward the Stargate.

"But...he killed himself?" Daniel said. He exchanged a bewildered look with the surviving members of SG-5.

"Did Lieutenant Barber show any signs of depression while on the mission?" Hammond said.

"Oh, no way," Jameson said. "He was..."

"He was fine," Daniel said.

"Better than fine," Pendleton added. "He seemed completely...normal. _Cheerful_. He was up for promotion in a couple of weeks; he wouldn't have... Sir, did something happen to him while he was here?"

"He hadn't even been Earthside for forty-eight hours," Carter said.

Teal'c nodded. "He was awaiting the results of a translation with which I was assisting Daniel Jackson. His behavior did not strike me as unusual."

"We were all taken by surprise," Carter said.

"I don't...know what to say," Daniel said, looking at a box he was holding in his hands.

"General, I can't think of anything that could have caused it," Pendleton said.

"There was nothing unusual on the planet?" Jack said.

"Something that made Dean suicidal, but only after he came back to Earth?" Daniel said.

General Hammond sighed. "We can continue to investigate, including on Earth and on '347, but, unfortunately, it's been my experience that these questions often go unanswered. I'm sorry--I know SG-5 has been a close-knit team."

"Sir, I can search his workspace here," Lithell said determinedly. "Maybe he left something."

"Or his apartment, if he went home last night," Pendleton added, and then, "Has someone called his girlfriend? They live together-- _lived_ \--and she might've noticed if..."

Damn. Jack snuck a glance at Hammond and saw him wince, barely visibly. That wasn't going to be an easy call to make.

"Why don't you all go take your physicals first," the general said. "I'll speak with you later about the investigation."

SG-5 left quietly. Daniel didn't. Jack wasn't sure if he hadn't heard or noticed or just wanted to give the others some space. "What's that you've got there?" Jack said, nodded at the box.

Daniel didn't answer. "Mr. Jackson?" the general prompted gently.

"What?" Daniel said, looking up, and then, "Oh. Uh...right, yes." He cleared his throat and opened the box to take out something that looked a little like a data-display tablet, but with an actual screen. "It's like a...a hand-held computer. When I turned it on, it displayed Goa'uld script similar to what was all over the pillars of the palace. I'm hoping they're instructions or something that tells about the technology in the palace."

"Like that light display you mentioned?" Carter said.

"What exactly was that about?" Jack said.

"We don't know," Daniel said, "but it looked...beautiful. It doesn't seem to do much, but, like I said..." He held up the mini-computer. "I'm hoping this will tell us more. I've been able to work out some of the text, but other parts are still..." He trailed off, touching one of the buttons on the side, frowning.

"I would be happy to provide further assistance, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said.

"Thank you," Daniel said, not looking up from the device in his hand. "I was hoping for that."

"Why don't you head over to the infirmary, too," Hammond told him. "You can work on the translation afterward."

Nodding distractedly, Daniel stood up and left the room, still looking at his device. Jack watched him until he was out of sight.

"Colonel," Hammond said, turning his attention back. "You mentioned that something on the planet that might have caused Lieutenant Barber's state?"

"Ah...I was just throwing it out there," Jack admitted. "Come to think of it...that doesn't make much sense. Does it?" he asked, turning to Carter.

She shrugged. "I can't think of anything, but there's _always_ a possibility of off-world influence, sir, especially given how...out of the blue it was."

"And sometimes it just happens without anyone realizing before it's too late," Hammond said. "I'll ask SG-5 about anything that might have happened on Earth. But just in case, I'd like SG-1 to return to the planet tomorrow morning. Mr. Jackson can show you what Lieutenant Barber was doing while he was there. Maybe a fresh set of eyes will see something that everyone else missed before, and you might be able to finish their mission there."

...x...

**_30 April 2001; Archaeology Office, SGC; 2100 hrs_ **

Daniel slammed a book onto Rothman's desk with a _thump_ and sighed in frustration.

Teal'c paused in what he was doing at Daniel's computer. Jack looked up cautiously, unnerved that anything at all was being slammed on the sacred desk that Daniel rarely touched except to put down and pick up official business. Now, he was bent over the desk, staring hard at the device in his hand, not noticing their gazes.

"What were you saying?" Jack said quietly to Teal'c, deciding that pushing Daniel now would be a bad idea. SG-5 had all left hours ago in various states of grief and irritability, and Daniel was probably upset, too--this was supposed to have been the fun mission after a bad couple of weeks.

It took another moment for Teal'c to stop watching Daniel, but then he moved the footage on the screen back. "Upon a second viewing of the Goa'uld writings from P4X-347, I discovered a figure moving in the background," Teal'c said, equally quiet, as he moved aside to let Jack see the screen. "It does not appear to be one of our personnel."

" _Yi shay_ ," Daniel snapped, pushing away to look for some other reference.

Jack looked at him again, more suspicious now they knew there was something on the planet they didn't know about. "No one ever mentioned any natives," Jack said.

Before Teal'c could answer, Daniel said abruptly, "I need to go back to the planet."

"We're going back tomorrow," Jack reminded him.

"Well, this thing isn't working," he said angrily, holding up the device. "I need to figure out what's going on, and tomorrow isn't good enough."

Jack stood up straight. "We'll go tomorrow, Daniel," he repeated firmly. "You need to take a break."

Daniel scowled back. "Oh, so we're back to that now?"

"What?" Jack said, glancing at Teal'c to see if he'd missed something. "I'm just saying you've been working hard and you're tired. I know how you can get--"

"Why are you _always_ like this?" Daniel said, clenching his free hand into a fist, and for a moment, Jack thought honestly that he might try to punch something. Then he said, "I'm going to talk to Hammond," turned around, and fled the office.

"Hey!" Jack called, standing quickly and following him with a mixture of alarm and irritation. He'd thought they'd gotten over Daniel's _stupidly-hasty_ phase, and this was not the mindset one needed to talk to the general. "There's a chain of com--Daniel, stop!"

Daniel beat him downstairs, though, and by the time Jack made it to the general's office, he could already hear Daniel's voice inside saying, "This device could be the key to...to everything on that planet, and I can't make _any_ progress on it here!"

"You're scheduled to leave tomorrow morning," Hammond was saying firmly as Jack walked in the open door. "One more day isn't going to make a difference."

"I'm telling you it _is_!" Daniel snapped.

"Thank you for your time, sir," Jack said sharply. Daniel might do this kind of thing to Jack sometimes, but never to the general.

But instead of taking the hint and leaving, Daniel went on, "I don't understand how someone like you can have so much power but still manage miss the point _entirely_."

"Hey!" Jack barked, appalled and not a little embarrassed, ready to drag Daniel out bodily if he had to at this point. "Knock it off!"

"It's all right, Colonel," Hammond said coldly, not looking away from Daniel. He tapped the paper on his desk. "This letter is to Lieutenant Barber's family, explaining that he died in the service of his country. I can't tell them anything about how he died or the work he did here; only that he's gone. Do you get the point?"

When Daniel didn't answer right away, Jack said, "Yes, sir, he does."

"Get him out of here," the general said.

Finally, Daniel stood straight and walked out on his own, brushing past Jack as he did. Jack looked at the general. "Sir--"

"I'll make an exception under the circumstances," Hammond interrupted. "But he needs to cool off by tomorrow or there will be consequences."

"Yes, sir," Jack said, and quickly left. "Hey!" he said again once he'd caught up to Daniel at the elevator. Not willing to play around anymore, he grabbed Daniel's arm and pulled him to a halt. "Look at me!"

"What?" Daniel said, turning enough to glare out of eyes that looked red, but apparently from exhaustion, because the look on his face wasn't grief for Barber or anything else.

"You're upset," Jack said. "I get that. So does the general, but you do not _ever_ talk to him like that, do you hear me?"

Daniel yanked his arm away. "Of course not. You wouldn't want me to disrespect your...ridiculous...military...chain of obedience--" The elevator opened, and he stepped in. Jack just managed to squeeze in before the doors shut.

"What's the matter with you?" Jack said as the elevator moved up. "It's been a bad week, okay, but there is no excuse for your behavior tonight."

The doors opened again. Daniel shoved past him into the corridor, where he scanned open his quarters and slammed the door shut behind himself.

"Was that Daniel?" Carter's voice said from behind him, where she was coming up the stairs.

Jack stared, dumbfounded, at where Daniel had just been standing. "Yeah," he said. "Yelled at the general just now."

"The general?" she said, surprised.

"I don't think I've ever said this before," Jack said, still a little stunned himself, "but 'teenager in a snit' seems to be the best description right now." When she gave him a sideways glance, he added, "You didn't see him."

"General _Hammond_ , sir?" she repeated. "Well, he's probably upset about...a lot of things--"

"That's why the general sent him to his room instead of benching him," Jack said. "But we've been treating him as an adult; he has to act like one, too. And when's the last time he's really blown up when he shouldn't have? Well," he amended, "at General Hammond, anyway."

"I don't think he ever has," Carter said. "Not really." Daniel might not like everything about their rules or their chain of command, but all protests aside, he understood regulations as well as any first-class cadet. Besides, he followed his own sense of respect and duty to the letter--he could yell at Jack and argue with Hammond, but never like _that_.

Jack frowned, hoping that not too many people had heard that happening, or by tomorrow morning, the rumor mill would be churning out something about teenage temper tantrums in the general's office. "He doesn't usually make it personal with Hammond," he said thoughtfully. "And with me earlier, it was like he was mad at something specific."

"Colonel, that's, uh, not unusual with you," Carter pointed out.

"Well...okay," Jack admitted, "but I don't even know what I supposedly did wrong this time."

"Do you think it's that thing with Shifu?"

"The dream?" Jack said. "That's a new one--getting yelled at for something I did in his dream."

"I could talk to him," she said, looking apprehensively toward Daniel's door.

He considered the offer, because they'd all been having a crappy time and Jack wouldn't mind having someone talk sense or comfort into Daniel--whichever came first--but there was no upper limit to the number of people Daniel could yell at in one night, and Carter didn't deserve that. "He usually cools off on his own," Jack finally said. "I'll keep an eye out. Come on--Teal'c's in the archaeology office. He's found something you should see before we go to the planet."

XXXXX

**_1 May 2001; SGC; 0845 hrs_ **

"Where's Daniel?" Jack asked Teal'c and Carter when he didn't see anyone else in the ready room.

"I have not yet seen him today," Teal'c said.

"Me neither, sir," Carter said.

Jack paused, then pushed the door back open to check the corridor outside. "Huh," he said, returning to pull down his gear. "He wasn't in his room or the mess this morning. I assumed he'd be here by now if he wanted to go back so badly."

Teal'c finished dressing, checked his watch, then said, "Perhaps he is already in the 'gate room."

"Ah...right," Jack said dubiously. "I'll check the office when I'm done and meet you two downstairs. He's got to be somewhere in this mountain."

Except the door opened again before any of them could leave, and Daniel walked in, not looking at any of them as he made his way to his locker.

"Good morning to you, too," Jack said. "So where've you been?"

Daniel didn't look up from pulling on his jacket and only shrugged. Jack decided not to push his luck and didn't say anything else as they waited.

"Done?" Carter said a minute later.

"Yes," Daniel said quietly, zipping up his vest. "I'm done."

Jack watched him suspiciously, then decided he was probably just embarrassed--in a big way--about the night before, but at least he wasn't about to explode. With a shrug, Jack led the way out toward the main armory near the embarkation room. They could find a chance to take a break once they were sure nothing on the planet had killed Barber. He couldn't start second-guessing everything now.

Later, he would regret not thinking twice.

"Carter, dial it up," he said when they'd checked in with the general and were waiting to set off.

She moved to the DHD as the rest of them waited at the bottom of the ramp. Jack listened to each chevron lock--four, five, six, seven--

Daniel sprinted up the ramp.

"Daniel, no!" Jack cried, running after him. He could hear Teal'c yelling as he just barely managed to get an arm around Daniel's shoulders and throw both of them backward in time to let the vortex _whoosh_ over them.

Jack landed hard on his back, Daniel's weight knocking what wind was left out of his lungs. "No," Daniel gasped, and then, before he could recover, the weight disappeared off his chest.

"Oh, god--shut it down!" Carter was calling. "Shut it down!"

By the time Jack rolled over and turned to see what was going on, the wormhole was winking out of existence, and Daniel was at the far end of the ramp with a gun in his hand.

"--on SG-5..." someone was saying.

Out of habit, Jack rose to his feet, pulling his P90 into line, and then he realized Daniel wasn't trying to shoot _them_ ; the barrel of the gun was pointing the way Jack had told him _never, ever_ to point it, and, _god_ , he was going to shoot himself--

"Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said, stepping onto the ramp while Jack frantically lowered his weapon and unhooked it from his vest, his mind freezing over and over on the sight of Daniel with a gun at his throat.

"I'm sorry," Daniel said, backing up a step and stopping when he hit the edge of the ramp.

"Security, stand down!" Hammond's voice shouted. "Mr. Jackson, listen to me--we can help you. But you need to put the gun down."

"Daniel, please," Carter was calling. "One minute! Put it down for just a min--"

"None of it means anything," Daniel said quietly, just barely loud enough to be heard over the ruckus. The gun inched higher, his hand shaking but the barrel pressed against his skull, his finger on the trigger, which meant he was ready to shoot, because Daniel knew better than to put that kind of pressure on the trigger if he didn't want to shoot, and a surprise now wouldn't go down well, and even a zat blast might make him convulse and squeeze it...

Finally freed of his weapons, Jack held up his hands and walked slowly closer. "Daniel," he said, "why don't you put. the gun. down."

"I tried," Daniel said, shaking his head and swaying slightly until he bumped into the railing. "It just goes away."

Which made no sense, but it didn't matter, because all Jack had to do was get close enough to move the gun away before Daniel pulled the trigger and got killed, too. "Okay," Jack said, calmly, still moving closer and wondering if everyone else could hear his heart beating or if it was just him. "Well, we'll, uh...we'll get it back."

Daniel started to slump, leaning on the railing, looking at the floor and not moving his hand, but the gun trembled a little more, as if he couldn't quite hold onto it, and Jack just _knew_ that any second he was going to squeeze just a little too hard... "You can't get it back," he whispered.

At a loss, Jack tried, "Whatever's wrong--we'll fix it."

Squeezing his eyes shut, Daniel let out a quiet, gasping sob. Then he opened his eyes and the gun steadied. "You don't even know what I’m talking about."

"No," Jack admitted, transfixed by the sight of the gun and almost forgetting to take another step closer. "No, I--I don't. But put the gun down. Please, Daniel. Don't do this to me."

Daniel took a deep breath. He let it out. He looked up, blinked, and--"Jack?" he said. His gun hand started to drop.

Jack lunged forward and pulled the gun away, taking just enough time to decock the hammer and lock the safety before sliding it away, where it clattered down the ramp. "Clear," he said hoarsely.

"W-we need a med team," Carter said somewhere behind them.

"It's me, Daniel," Jack whispered, shaky with relief, and it wasn't until Daniel leaned forward and grabbed at his vest that he realized how urgently they had to get to the doctor. "Come on," he said gently. "Let's go."

"Jack?" Daniel repeated. He took a step forward and started to crumple. "Wha--what's going--"

"Whoa, whoa," Jack said, lowering him to the floor. "Teal'c--Carter! Look at me, Daniel." He untangled himself and pulled Daniel's face up to see. Daniel squirmed weakly away from him, his eyes half-open and his pupils far too dilated.

"I'm sorry," Daniel moaned, pulling back and curling into a ball on the ramp. Jack spotted a bayonet on his belt and took it away, too, tossing his own aside as a precaution. "Doesn't matter."

Teal'c dropped to his haunches next to them. "It is the planet," he said quietly. "We must investigate."

Nodding absently, Jack pulled Daniel back out of his near-fetal position. "Come on, kid," he repeated, rubbing Daniel's arm--god, his hand was ice-cold. "Talk to me. What happened back there?" Daniel's eyes stayed shut. "Daniel?"

A hand reached for Daniel's neck. Jack looked up and realized Carter must have joined them. "His pulse is slow," she said.

"Daniel, wake up," Jack said, shaking him gently. Nothing happened. Jack shook harder. "Wake up!"

"Colonel, Major, Teal'c, out of the way," Dr. Fraiser's voice called. "What's going on?"

"Tried to kill himself," Jack said as he stumbled to his feet and backed away. Fraiser stopped for an instant, staring at them, then lowered herself to the ramp as a gurney approached from behind. "And then he passed out--"

"We need to get him to the infirmary," she said, gesturing to the orderlies to help her. "Let's go!"

Jack sat down hard on the ramp. Teal'c was following the gurney but stopped when he realized the rest of them weren't behind him. If Jack hadn't been so busy keeping himself from sinking any further than he already had, he'd have been worried about the others, too. "I will go with Daniel Jackson," Teal'c decided, and hurried off after the gurney.

Soon, the 'gate room was silent. Jack dropped his head onto his knees.

"Sir?" Carter said, sounding like she very desperately wanted him to answer. He took a deep breath and clenched his hands together to stop them from shaking. A hand touched his shoulder. "Colonel."

"Yeah," Jack said, pulling himself up enough to see Carter crouching next to him. "It's--it's gotta be that planet. Daniel wouldn't have--"

"I know, Jack," Hammond's voice said, and he looked up to see the general standing over them. "We should have realized after last night, after what happened to Lieutenant Barber."

"I called him a teenager in a snit," he said numbly.

Hammond moved a step closer. "Now's not the time to play that game, Colonel," he said firmly. "I just had the three other members of SG-5 called. None of them showed up for work. We assumed they'd taken the day for Lieutenant Barber's memorial, but the wife of one of them answered the phone and said he was in bad shape; the other two haven't picked up and there's someone going to their homes now."

"We have to go to '347," Jack said, shaking the image out of his mind.

"It does look like that's what's causing this," Hammond said, but he didn't say 'yes.'

"Teal'c saw someone in the video footage that no one else mentioned, sir," Carter said, her voice subdued but picking up strength as she focused on the mission. Jack pulled himself up. "It looked like whoever it was might have been hiding, maybe manipulating them. At the very least, the person might be able to tell us what's going on."

"I need to check on Daniel," Jack said.

"We'll wait for the preliminary results of Dr. Fraiser's exam," the general agreed, watching him carefully. "She might know what's causing this. Then, if it looks like it'll help, you can go to the planet and look for answers."

...x...

**_1 May 2001; Infirmary, SGC; 1530 hrs_ **

There _was_ a person on '347. It was a kid, and he didn't know--or want to say--anything about what was happening to their men. Jack left Carter and Teal'c on the planet and reported back to base.

"This boy you met on the planet," Hammond said as Jack stood at the foot of Daniel's bed. "Loran. He really doesn't know anything?"

"He's a kid," Jack snapped. "The others are going to try to get more out of him. Why the hell isn't Daniel waking up?"

"His neurological activity is continuing to decline, sir," Fraiser said. "I'm pretty sure now that whatever substance is at fault for this actually increased his neural activity while he was on the planet. When he left, he was no longer exposed to it, and his dopamine levels dropped as he went into withdrawal. It's what seems to have happened with SG-5, and I think the same thing is happening to Loran, whether he knows it or not."

"Withdrawal," Jack said, and kicked the foot of the bed. "Daniel and SG-5 got _drugged_?"

"Sir, I need you to calm down," she said, walking slowly toward him with a hand held out.

Jack whirled on her. "Don't tell me to calm down! Four men are dead and Daniel is lying on his _death bed_ , and you're giving me excuses?"

"Colonel O'Neill," Hammond said sternly.

Fraiser kept her hand held out. "Colonel. We are doing all we can. In the meantime, I'd like to recheck your dopamine levels."

Realization splashed over him like ice. "It's happening to me, too, isn't it," Jack said, leaning on the bed.

"Let me find out," she said, gesturing to the bed and watching him as if worried he'd do something to her.

But before he could sit, the monitor over Daniel's head began to beep. Fraiser looked away from him and at the monitor. "What is that?" Jack said.

"His EEG is sporadic," she said, removing his nasal canula and shifting the wires away. "This is exactly what happened to the members of SG-5 before they died. Sir, you're gonna have to take him back to the planet."


	22. Lux et Veritas

**_1 May 2001; Stargate Room, P4X-347; 1600 hrs_ **

"Where are my friends?"

Daniel tried to open his eyes but couldn't. It sounded like Jack. Jack's voice made his head hurt.

Someone else said, "With the light."

"Get them for me, will you?"

"They won't come."

"Well, try!" Jack snapped. Daniel's head pounded a little harder, and then Jack shook him just to make it worse. "Daniel, come on, wake up."

He opened his eyes just enough to decide to close them again.

"That's it," Jack said, slapping him.

"Stop it, Jack," Daniel tried to say. Instead, he said, "Nn."

"Oh, god," Jack said, but the slapping and shaking stopped. Fingers touched his throat, and some part of him that was still functioning properly remembered that that meant he was missing something important. "Daniel, can you hear me? Can you open your eyes again?"

_Fine_ , Daniel thought grudgingly, dragging his eyes open with effort. Jack was blurry. His glasses must have disappeared again. "Tired," he said. He thought that was impressively succinct.

"Okay," Jack said. The blur moved away. "Okay."

"Jack?"

"We're on '347 again, Daniel. I'll be right back. Stay right there. I have to get the others. Carter!"

Daniel did not have a problem with staying there.

But the fact was that sleeping on the ground outside was very different from lying on a hard, unyielding floor made of whatever rock this floor was made of, and eventually, Daniel decided it would be better just to get up and move to somewhere more comfortable. His arms and legs had a different idea, though, and the first direction he picked had stairs, so he dropped down on the last step he wanted to try getting up and dropped his throbbing head onto his knees. His knees were a lot quieter than Jack.

Of course, Jack came storming back in with no regard at all for people who... Why _did_ his head hurt so much, anyway, and why was he so tired?

He needed coffee. That must be it.

"Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said.

"Yep," Jack said as Daniel wished very hard (to no avail) that they would all go away and leave him alone, but only after giving him a cup of coffee. "Had to bring him back. It was the only thing that was going to keep him alive."

That was unfair. Another cup of coffee would _not_ have killed him.

Someone sat down next to him, not sitting close enough for it to be Sam and too restless for it to be Teal'c. Daniel leaned very slightly toward it. It was definitely Jack.

"...thinks we're addicted to something here that alters our brain chemistry," Jack was saying when Daniel pulled his focus back onto the conversation. "And dollars to doughnuts, it's that damn light."

That was a strange expression. Why would someone compare dollars with doughnuts, except maybe to buy doughnuts, in which case it was just an expression about stakeouts and bore no relation to the matter at hand. Daniel still didn't know what the matter at hand was, though, so maybe they were addicted to coffee and needed doughnuts to go along with it.

"Oh, I don't see how that's possible," Sam said, but Sam thought everything was possible until she found something she didn't think was possible but actually was. The whole SGC was kind of like that.

What was going on, again? Something about the light--which, actually, made a little too much sense. Daniel remembered having to pull members of SG-5 out every once in a while; it was beautiful, he acknowledged, but the others had been absolutely obsessed with it.

Jack stood up. "Ah, screw it," he said, "we're turning that thing off."

"No," someone else said. Too curious not to look this time, Daniel peeked out of his arms and saw all of his teammates stomping off toward the light room. A boy he didn't recognize watched them pass.

"You stay here," Jack ordered the boy, and then they disappeared.

The boy wrung his hands, looking after the others. Finally, he turned around to face Daniel. "Hi," he said, raising one hand in a partial wave and smiling nervously.

Daniel braced himself and sat up mostly-straight. "Hi," he said when it seemed his head wasn't about to throb itself apart. "Who are you?"

"Um," the boy said. He rocked once on his heels, looked over his shoulder as if to see where the others were, then said, "Loran."

"That's your name?" Daniel clarified, intrigued by the boy's obvious understanding. He spoke with some unfamiliar accent--he must be an alien, but..."Your name is Loran?"

"Yes," Loran said, smiling again. "You're Daniel?"

"Uh...well...yes, I am. How did you--"

"I was hiding when you came before," Loran said, looking proud for a brief moment, and then uncertain.

Unsure what to make of him, Daniel offered a quick smile in return. Loran didn't look _that_ young--about the age Daniel himself had been when he'd first been brought to the SGC--but something was odd about him. Then again, if he'd been hiding...

"Oh no," Daniel sighed. "Did we break into your home? You must have thought we were...wait, are you the only one here?"

Loran frowned in puzzlement. "Break...into my home?"

"Is this your home?" Daniel said, berating himself for using idioms that wouldn't mean anything to someone who might only know literal definitions, however it was that he seemed to know even that much. "Do you live here?"

"Yes," Loran said again.

"We didn't mean to...enter without permission," Daniel said, reaching up to rub his nose and make sure his glasses were missing, because otherwise his eyes had gone haywire. "Sorry."

"Not--" Loran started, then seemed to think. "It's...O-K," he amended.

Wow. He must have been not only hiding while Daniel had been here with SG-5; he'd been listening the whole time and picked up a lot of their speech. "You're very good at English," Daniel told him, still trying to figure out how he was supposed to deal with the boy. "That's what we call what we're saying--this language."

"I'm very good at languages," Loran confided.

"Yeah, you must be," Daniel agreed. "You, uh...have you always been good at languages? That's my specialty, too."

Loran's face lit up. "Really? Is Jack your..." He paused. " _Pater_?" he said.

" _Pater_ ," Daniel said, excited. "You speak--uh... _loquerisne hanc linguam?_ "

"Lo--oh, uh... _Loperis han linjam_ ," Loran corrected, but they were close to being mutually intelligible languages, with some effort, which was good enough. " _Ego iam lopar_."

"Wow," Daniel said, wishing he had a recorder with him.

"Then Jack _is_ your... _pater_?"

"Oh, no," Daniel said quickly. "He's not my father. That's _'pater_ ' in English." Then he thought about that question and the question before it and what it implied. "Did _your_ father teach you?"

Loran dropped his gaze and started to rock agitatedly where he stood. "Uh...yes. We learned a lot of languages. Your friends said you had to come here. Do you like it here?"

Huh. Daniel wondered if people had looked at him like this when he'd first arrived on Earth.

"It's a very interesting place," he agreed, looking suspiciously in the direction where the others had gone. "Like the room with the light--have you been in there?"

"I'm not allowed to go in," Loran said with the casually quick air of something that was obvious, natural, reflexive, and it meant there was someone who did the allowing.

"According to your parents, you mean. Your mother and father."

Nodding, Loran clasped his hands together, glancing again toward the light room. "It doesn't work on me, anyway," he said. "I'm too young. Are you too young?"

"I...don't know," Daniel said honestly. If the light really _was_ addictive in some way, that would certainly explain why SG-5 had been so fascinated with it, and if it was age-dependent, then maybe that was why he'd been somewhat less fascinated than the others. On the other hand, Daniel must have been addicted, too, and in a bad way if Jack had been so frantic after coming back here. "How young is too young?"

"I don't know," Loran said.

They made quite a pair, then. "Were your parents too young?" he said, trying to establish some sort of upper and lower bound--

"Uh," Loran said. He swallowed, then said, "They liked it. I know this language, too," he added, pointing at the Goa'uld writing on the walls.

There was something missing--something huge. Daniel was self-aware enough by now to recognize avoidance tactics when he saw them.

On the other hand... "You can read this?" Daniel said. "I mean, you know what it means?" Loran nodded. "Could you help me?"

The Stargate activated.

_("Daniel, no!" Jack yelled.)_

"Move out of the way," Daniel said sharply, tugging Loran away from the 'gate as it _whooshed_ open. When had _that_ happened? The memory was fuzzy in his mind--maybe it had been a dream.

Or maybe...

_"SG-1, this is Stargate Command,"_ General Hammond's voice said from a few feet away. Daniel looked past a surprised Loran to a pile of equipment near the DHD. _"Please respond."_

"They're not going to answer," Loran said anxiously as Daniel waited for Jack to return. "The light...they're...they won't come."

"Right," Daniel said, pushing himself to his feet with a grimace, pausing when his head spun. "Loran, c-can you stand in front of that, please? There's a--"

But Loran seemed familiar with the MALP already and moved in front of it to wave at the camera. "Hi, General Hammond," he said.

_"Loran,"_ the general answered after a brief hesitation. _"Where are the others?"_

Well. Apparently, Daniel had missed quite a bit. He made his way toward the MALP and sat down rather heavily next to Loran. "General," he said, blinking a few dark spots out of his vision and not sure why he was out of breath.

_"I'm glad to see you, Mr. Jackson,"_ the general said. _"We thought we'd lost you."_

Not quite sure what that meant--but beginning to think Jack hadn't been exaggerating about keeping him alive--Daniel said, "To be honest, I didn't have a chance to get the whole story yet, and I don't really remember much beyond--" And then he did with a flood of shame. "I yelled at you. Sir, I'm...very sorry about that."

_"It's all right,"_ the general assured him. _"Do you need anything?"_

"Glasses," he said immediately. "Uh...Jack said we're addicted to something here, so if we have to stay until we--"

_"I'll send supplies through."_

"And the...the hand-held computer with instructions that I was trying to figure out before. Loran says he can help with the translation." Daniel didn't think he'd ever worked on a translation with someone younger than himself before. It was an odd concept, but an interesting one.

_"Stay clear of the Stargate, son. We'll start sending everything through right away. Anything else you need?"_

"I don't seem to have my boots," he added, looking at his socked feet.

Hammond chuckled. _"We sent you through in a bit of a hurry--we'll get you some shoes, too. Where's Colonel O'Neill?"_

"Uh..." Daniel rubbed his eyes and looked over his shoulder, where Loran had gone back to lurking in the corridor leading to the light room. Loran shook his head. "They're in the room with the light, which we're apparently addicted to. They're, uh...distracted."

There was a brief silence, and then, _"You're alone right now?"_

"Loran's with me."

_"Why isn't your team there?"_

"They're trying to turn it off," Daniel said. "But I think they got distracted pretty quickly. I can go get them--Loran says it doesn't work on younger people, but I don't know if I'm over the limit, so until we finish the translation, I don't want to risk getting stuck with them. It doesn't seem to be harmful in the short-term--just, uh...mesmerizing."

_"No, don't go in there,"_ the general said. _"Contact us again if you can't figure it out quickly. Are you sure you're feeling all right?"_

Daniel took a moment to give that some consideration. "I think I'm okay," he decided. The first, small box popped out of the wormhole. "Oh, I see my glasses!"

_"Wait, Daniel,"_ Janet's voice said over the MALP. _"I need to you to take your vitals and report them to me right now."_

"But there's the computer," Daniel said, pointing as another box slid through. "I need to read it to turn off the light--"

_"Sit down, look at your watch, and take your pulse,"_ Janet ordered. _"I'm sending some medical supplies through just in case."_

Frowning, Daniel obeyed and dutifully reported his heart rate and assured her he was still breathing, and then asked, "Medical supplies?"

_"If it were up to me,"_ Janet said testily, _"you'd still be in bed in the infirmary until I could be sure your heart wasn't going to stop beating again."_ Daniel felt his jaw drop open. _"Yes, Daniel, that's what happened."_

"But I'm fine," Daniel said uncertainly. "Isn't that a normal pulse? I don't have a blood pressure thing with me, but I don't feel like I'm going to...you know...die."

She sighed. _"Drink some water, eat a little food if you can. Don't get up too much if you don't need to, and when one of your teammates gets out of that room, have them take a full set of vitals. I'm sending some instructions, and as soon as you start to get a handle on things, I need vitals and samples from_ all _of you. And it's called a sphygmomanometer."_

"Okay," he said. "But I really need to get up to get my glasses." Even as he spoke, a FRED wheeled through the 'gate and stopped just in the right place for the glasses case and the Goa'uld handheld computer to be trapped between the wheels. Luckily, Loran must have been listening, and he scampered up the steps, stretched a hand under the FRED, and handed both over, even turning the computer on for him. "Never mind."

_"Keep us informed of your progress,"_ the general said. _"If you don't call back in the next few hours, we'll check in again, but keep in mind that I cannot risk sending another team to that planet if you all get stuck in that room. Be very careful."_

"Yes, sir," Daniel said. "Thank you."

When the wormhole finally shut down again, Daniel scooted back to where he'd been sitting before and patted the step next to him. "Do you want to help me read this?" he said.

"O-K," Loran said happily.

...x...

"How did you do that?" Sam said when Daniel turned off the light.

"How long have we been standing here?" Jack said.

Daniel held up the Goa'uld computer. "General Hammond sent us this thing. Loran and I translated the writing on it. Among other things, it tells how to turn the light off."

"That long?" Jack said, shaking his head.

With a shrug, Daniel tapped his device again and said, "Apparently, the Goa'uld used to use this place as a...a place to get high on whatever it was that made us feel calm and happy when we came here before. But their symbiotes were able to keep them from going into withdrawal after they left."

"Then it is most likely I will be able to leave," Teal'c said.

Jack scowled at his happy expression. "Oh, how nice for you," he said.

"Wait a minute," Sam said. "If you just turned it off, how come I'm not getting depressed?"

"Perhaps it will take some time to feel its effects," Teal'c said.

Jack scowled harder. "Let's take advantage of that," he said, and walked quickly out of the light room. "Loran," he called.

Loran popped back out from where he'd been half-hiding behind the MALP. "Jack," he said.

_("Daniel," Colonel O'Neill greeted, hands in his pockets._

_"Jack," Daniel answered cautiously, looking up at the hero of Abydos.)_

"All right," Jack said, planting himself in front of the boy. "Where did your parents _actually_ go?"

The nervous frown-smile-grimace appeared again, and Loran averted his eyes. "Far, far away from here," he said.

_Oh_ , Daniel thought.

"How far?" Jack insisted. "Which direction?" Loran swallowed and took a half step back but didn't answer. "Kid's hiding something," Jack said, turning back to the team. "You two, with me. Daniel...sit down."

"Jack, you're being a little hard on him," Daniel said quietly, glancing at Loran, who'd wandered to the other end of the room and was rummaging in what looked like a pile of his belongings but glanced back at them every few seconds. "Look at him--I think something's wrong with--"

"I'm not here to be his friend right now," Jack snapped. "Something killed four of our people and could still kill us, and if he knows something..."

"Four?" Daniel echoed, realizing too late he should have asked about SG-5 earlier when General Hammond had called. "You...you mean the rest of SG-5?"

Jack paused. "Yeah," he said, more gently. "We were too late for them. I'm sorry, Daniel, but _we're_ not going to die here, and we're not going to live here forever, either. Stay here and rest, and keep an eye on the kid."

Daniel sat down.

Teal'c and Sam glanced at him, then seemed to decide that disobeying Jack would be the worst of a few bad options at the moment and followed him out of the palace.

Daniel supposed he should trust Jack to deal with Loran properly. Jack tended to err on the side of leniency with children.

"That's my...mother and father," Loren said, dropping suddenly to a seat next to him.

Trying to hide his surprise at the boy's abrupt reappearance, Daniel took the device Loran was holding out. It was some sort of image-displaying technology that looked like a digital camera. Loran must have come from a technologically advanced world, then--if not more so than Earth, then certainly close.

Of course, pre-Latin Italic languages on Goa'uld worlds was something they hadn't seen much before; it was something Daniel associated with the Ancients, or maybe Machello or the Linvris, and others whose races or worlds opposed the System Lords and had never been completely conquered. Maybe Loran had come from one of those planets. He didn't seem afraid of Teal'c, after all.

Loran leaned over to tap the center of the image. "That's me," he added cheerfully.

"Um...I see," Daniel said. The boy in the picture looked several years younger. "You were a lot younger there," he prompted, not sure if there was a more tactful way to say, _'are your parents dead, too?'_

"Yeah, it's old," Loran agreed.

Daniel nodded. "Um. Yes. About that--"

The device was pulled out of his hands. "Can I take an image of you?" Loran asked, holding it up hopefully, and Daniel realized it really _was_ a camera.

"Um," Daniel repeated. Should he be encouraging this, when it seemed an effort to dodge around a topic? Then again, Jack wasn't trying to be Loran's friend now, but Daniel didn't know how to handle the other parts with children that _didn't_ involve being a friend, so surely he could do that. "Sure," he said.

Before he could finish saying the word, a bright light flashed at him.

Loran looked at the device and laughed. "What?" Daniel said. Loran held it back up to show a picture of Daniel with his mouth halfway through a word and one eye squinted shut. Daniel found himself snickering, too.

"I'm sorry that you can't leave," Loran said, "but it's fun here. There are a lot of things to do."

Suddenly, Daniel wondered if that was what he sounded like when he told people like Nyan that he was sorry the man was stuck on Earth, but it wasn't so bad, really. "Um," he started again, glancing outside and wondering if the others were coming back. "Right, about that. You've been here by yourself for a while, right?"

A look that was almost surprised crossed Loran's face before it turned into wariness.

"It's okay, you can tell me," Daniel said, hoping his age would work for him this time and wishing he'd spent more time with people his own age so he'd know how he was supposed to act. "My parents died when I was...fourteen," he offered. _Quid pro quo_ was a mode of communication that spanned a lot of cultures and species. "My age, I mean," he amended. Linguistic shortcuts were pervasive. "I had lived fourteen years when my parents died."

"I'm fourteen," Loran said, which could mean anything from about ten to twenty, probably, depending on the planet's cycle around the sun, but it was probably close enough to Earth's terms, judging by what Daniel would have estimated for the boy based on looks.

"Did your parents die, too?" Daniel tried.

Loran shook his head, looking away. "They'll be back," he said in a small voice.

Daniel bit his lip. "You know, I...I'm not sure they--"

Footsteps announced the rest of the team's return. Relieved, Daniel turned, ready to hand the conversation off to people who would know what to do with it, but Sam was pinching the bridge of her nose while Jack bent over and scrubbed a hand through his short hair.

"What's wrong?" Daniel said.

"Oh," Jack said, standing up again as Teal'c kept a careful eye on all the humans in the room. "We're going through that...withdrawal thing again."

Daniel assessed himself and said, "I felt fine the whole time you were gone."

"Actually, sir," Sam said, "I'm starting to feel myself again."

Jack paused and seemed to consider that. "Me, too," he finally said. "What's going on?"

"Well, something other than that light must be affecting us," Sam said.

"Perhaps we should examine the device more closely," Teal'c suggested.

"No!" Loran said.

Daniel turned to look at him again, realizing that someone as smart as Loran seemed to be, and someone who clearly knew _something_ about the light, must have figured out more than just the Goa'uld language on the walls.

Jack narrowed his eyes and marched into the light room. For the first time Daniel saw, Loran entered the room, too, following him. "Jack, don't," Loran pleaded.

"You know how it works," Jack said when Loran stood directly in front of the pedestal, blocking something. "You knew all along."

"No," Loran repeated. "My parents...when they come back, they'll--"

"They're not _coming_ back!" Jack snapped. Daniel winced, his suspicions confirmed.

"They...they will," Loran insisted.

"Someone buried those bodies!" Jack yelled, and even Sam flinched a little at that. Loran fell completely silent. Daniel could see him trembling. "Now, _how_ do you _shut_ that thing _off_?"

And Loran ducked under one leg of the pedestal and opened it.

XXXXX

**_1 May 2001; Light Room, P4X-347; 2000 hrs_ **

Sam grimaced as Loran opened the pedestal's control panel and then fled the room, looking like he was about to cry. Colonel O'Neill closed his eyes for a brief moment, then ordered shortly, "Figure this thing out."

"Yes, sir," Sam said, eager to have something to do as the colonel followed Loran away. She crawled under the pedestal with Daniel to one side of her and Teal'c to another.

"So...you found them," Daniel said quietly once the colonel had left. "Loran's parents."

"We found two partially-buried human skeletons by the ocean," Teal'c confirmed, "with stones marking each grave."

"He's been alone here all this time," Daniel said. He shivered. "I can't imagine what it must have been like."

"You think he's telling the truth about this only working on adults?" Sam said, hoping to steer the conversation onto more productive--safer--ground. "Janet says he's addicted, too, judging by his blood work."

"Maybe it's just the _light_ that affects people differently," Daniel suggested, carefully sliding one panel of the base lower to expose what looked like writing under it. "But it's not what we're actually addicted to, and whatever _that_ is affects everyone equally. I got just as addicted, but I was able to shake off the effects of the light more easily than the rest of SG-5."

His finger paused on a symbol as he said it. Sam glanced at him, but he moved on, and she couldn't tell whether he'd just been stuck on the translation or caught up in the whirlwind of missteps and disasters that couldn't seem to let them go lately.

"Anything?" he said a moment later, looking at her.

"Uh..." she said, turning back to her own work. "Well, this is pretty standard Goa'uld crystal technology, but the way these are configured... I'd love to dismantle this and see exactly how it's set up." He raised an eyebrow at her. "In other words," she clarified, "I can probably figure out _how_ to manipulate it, but I need someone to tell me _what_ to manipulate."

"Perhaps this will be of assistance," Teal'c said. Sam leaned over to see what he was doing before she remembered that she didn't understand what he was reading, anyway. "The text states that human slaves cannot be removed immediately from the planet."

" _Removed_ ," Sam echoed in disgust. "Like the humans are pieces of baggage to move around."

Daniel perked up, though. "But useful baggage. The Goa'uld wouldn't have wanted them to die; it says here that, uh...I think this refers to an imbalance, in the sense of 'insanity'..."

"The withdrawal would have seemed like a sort of insanity, I guess," Sam agreed, shivering as she remembered a very unbalanced Daniel with a gun.

"Well, the whatever-it-is has to be...decreased?" Daniel said, squinting and leaning in so close his nose actually touched the base of the pedestal before he backed up and blinked rapidly. "I think that says something about a reduction."

Sam snapped her fingers. "That makes sense. If stopping cold-turkey kills you, then there must be a better way to stop."

Two puzzled stares fixed on her. "Cold...turkey," Daniel said, exchanging a look with Teal'c and wearing a slightly disturbed expression that said he was probably imagining a hypothermic bird being used in a medical procedure.

"It means stopping all at once," she explained. "Is there way to reduce the...output of this thing incrementally? And then we'd need to know the maximum safe rate of decrease..."

"These control the power level," Teal'c said, reaching over to point out a row of crystals in front of Sam's face. "The instructions say that each level must be maintained for a minimum of..." He paused, thinking for a moment. "I believe that is slightly less than thirty hours."

Sam sat back on her heels in dismay. "There are...these make up twelve switches. If we keep to that minimum, it'll take two weeks before we can leave."

"At least we'll get out eventually," Daniel said, leaning back to sit against one leg of the pedestal. "I've been on longer missions. We all have, if you count the Enkaran relocation."

With a sigh, Sam wondered why they couldn't have had this extra time on that other planet, that one where there had been all that unusual solar activity...until she remembered that she was now stuck on a planet with some of the most advanced technology they'd seen yet.

This might not be all that bad, really.

Just then, Colonel O'Neill returned, steering a tear-streaked but calmer Loran in front of him. "What's the news, kids?" he said.

"Well, sir," Sam said, setting the first switch and climbing out from under the device, "the good news is that we can turn it off."

"Don't let them!" Loran said immediately, turning wide eyes to look at the colonel. "They'll die, just like my parents."

Which explained how the boy's parents had died.

"He's right; that's what would happen if we shut it off all at once," Sam said. "But Daniel and Teal'c were able to translate the writing, and we've determined that we should be all right if we turn it down little by little. I've already turned it down a notch with no immediate effects, and if it turns out it's not working, we can always power it back up and look for another solution."

"Okay," O'Neill said, still looking a little suspicious. "So...what's the bad news?"

"It will take two to three weeks for the process to be completed safely," Teal'c said. Daniel shrugged from where he still sat under the pedestal, making no attempt to get up.

The colonel managed to find an optimistic outlook, however. "Two to three weeks in a palace by the beach?" he said. He took a breath and shrugged. "Teal'c, you don't have to hang around. Why don't you head back and let Hammond know what's going on."

"Very well," Teal'c agreed.

"You might have to move the FRED, Teal'c," Daniel called, and was interrupted by a yawn. "Sorry. I shouldn't have left it in the path of the _kawhoosh_."

Sam had to look away. After what had happened to Barber, and what had almost happened to Daniel, she wouldn't be seeing that vortex the same way for a long time. "And then you'll leave?" Loran said, looking up at O'Neill again.

The colonel glanced up at Sam, raising an eyebrow in question. "I think we all will," he said. "Right?"

It took her a minute to realize he was asking about the addiction and not about the problems and questions that would come with taking an(other) orphan home with them. "Uh, yeah. He should return to normal along with the rest of us."

"Then I can go with you?" Loran said.

"Sure," the colonel said easily, because it wasn't up to Loran to worry about the things that would make it more complicated than a simple _'sure.'_ "Come on--let's go see Teal'c off." The colonel looked at her and nodded back once toward Daniel before leading Loran back into the 'gate room.

"Need a hand?" Sam said, bending to reach toward him. Daniel grabbed her arm and pushed himself to his feet rather shakily, letting her take some of his weight. "You okay?"

"A little tired," he admitted, looking exhausted. "But very...relieved you're not all going to die because of..." He stopped.

She ushered him toward the 'gate room, realizing that, as much as SG-1 might feel that loaning Daniel to other teams was bad for his health, Daniel must feel that being loaned out was bad for the other teams' health.

Before she could say anything, though, they were back in the main chamber and Teal'c was dialing the SGC. "Oh, wait," Daniel said once the wormhole was open. "Can you tell them to send... _ay_ , I should have made a list of what I'll need to finish the translations--"

"I thought you already did the translation," Colonel O'Neill said.

Daniel raised his eyebrows. "Of the tiny amount of text on the pedestal, yes, but there's more all over the palace, and there are rooms SG-5 never finished documenting..."

"I will gather what equipment I can find that seems necessary, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said. "Perhaps you can all later send for the items you require for the duration of your stay."

"Ice cream," O'Neill said immediately. "A freezer?"

"There's a thermal...something...thing down that way," Daniel said, pointing down one of the corridors. "Lieutenant Barber thought it was how they kept things warm, but there was something about adjustable temperatures... I didn't pay a lot of attention, to be honest."

"I'd like to take a look at that," Sam said, interested.

"Told you you'd like it here," Daniel said. "Unambiguous, concrete things to measure."

Sam started to answer but couldn't decide whether that was a joke or an insult or just a comment, so she closed her mouth. Daniel looked surprised, too, and then took his glasses off to wipe the lenses, ducking away from her gaze at the same time.

"Just the ice cream," the colonel told Teal'c, not seeming to have noticed the odd exchange.

"Oh, and coffee?" Sam added.

"Janet's instructions say 'no caffeine,'" Daniel said as he waved a hand toward the untidy pile of supplies that had been sent through for them. "I already checked."

With the wormhole open and the IDC already sent, Teal'c turned and raised an eyebrow at them all. "We'll call if we need anything," Sam said.

"Thanks, Teal'c," the colonel said, still holding onto Loran with one arm. "And let General Hammond know about Loran, too. It's probably best to get things rolling so he can settle in somewhere as soon as we get back."

"Very well," Teal'c repeated, nodding to them all and adding a small smile for Loran. "I wish you the best of luck. I will return when I can."

"Wait!" Loran said, pulling away from the colonel and running into an adjacent room. Teal'c stopped obediently. Loran returned a moment later with what looked like a gun, until he neared and it became clear it was just a plastic toy. "You almost forgot," he said, handing it over.

Sam felt her eyebrows rise, but Teal'c accepted the toy very seriously. "Thank you, Loran," Teal'c said, and then pushed the FRED through and followed after.

...x...

The heater Barber had found could be set as low as negative thirty-four degrees, so their ice cream stayed safe. The colonel seemed amused that Sam had actually checked and that the SGC had actually sent them ice cream. Loran was off playing with something and didn't notice. Daniel was sleeping and didn't notice, either.

"Are you feeling all right, sir?" she said quietly, unable to erase the idea that she might have flipped the wrong switch and that they'd commit suicide before they could figure it out and fix it.

"I'm stuck on a planet for two to three weeks, Carter," the colonel said in answer.

She nodded. "I could try to speed it up, but I don't know if it's worth the risk."

He waved a hand. "Yeah, I know. Don't try anything funny unless Teal'c comes to visit, just in case we all go..." He pointed a finger to his head and glanced at where Daniel was sleeping.

Checking to make sure the two more-or-less kids weren't in hearing range, Sam asked, "How did the rest of SG-5 die? Did they all commit suicide, or...?"

"No," O'Neill said, sitting loosely on the steps, his frustration and irritation drained away now. "One tried; wife stopped him. Another one was found on his apartment balcony, but he'd passed out, so we're not sure...you know. They were all unconscious by the time someone went to check. And then they coded, a few hours before Daniel did."

There was an AED in their pile of equipment. Sam hoped no one would need it anytime soon.

"So," she said hesitantly, "the suicides...they were just because of the withdrawal and the...the depression from that...right?"

As if hearing her unspoken question, he looked again at Daniel. "Yeah, I'm sure," he said. "Don't worry, Major. Daniel's not--"

"Jack!" Loran said. They turned to see the boy gesturing enthusiastically and holding up a toy of some sort. "You have to see this."

The colonel smiled slightly, shrugged at her, and followed Loran away into the next room.

Sam glanced back to see that Daniel was still asleep and sat back down, starting to sort through the supplies the general had sent through. Her laptop was even there, which was nice--now, if only they'd sent some way to recharge the battery, too, she'd be set.

Although...with the amount of power that must be needed to keep this place up and running, if she could locate the main sources, she could probably jury-rig some--

"Sha'uri?" Daniel mumbled.

Sam looked up from her computer's boot-up screen as Daniel turned over under a blanket and muttered something that probably wasn't English. She glanced around the room, but Loran must have dragged the colonel off for show-and-tell, so she left her laptop to one side and crept closer. She could make out the word for 'kill' in Goa'uld (even she knew that one in a few languages) and reached out to see if she could make him calm down without waking him up.

Before she could even touch him, though, his eyes snapped open, and he started violently upon seeing her face in front of his. "Sorry, sorry," she said, wincing. "You, uh... Bad dream?"

He stared at her several moments longer before he looked around the room, breathing a little too fast. "Um," he said, then closed his eyes again.

"Daniel?" she said cautiously.

"Yeah," he said.

She scooted around to face him fully. "Wanna talk about it?"

Instead, he sat up and said, "Not really."

Sam didn't like to push, not when it came to serious, personal things like this. Sha'uri and Shifu were right now rolled up into what might just be the biggest personal thing currently on Daniel's mind, which was pretty impressive considering what went on in his head, so the instinctive voice that told her _'don't ask'_ managed to beat down the voice that was really, _very_ curious about what the dream had been. She wasn't going to ask how Shifu had given them the same dream, either--the image of a boy turning into energy kept prodding at her, and it unnerved her in some deep-down way she couldn't describe.

"So it's some kind of energy?" Daniel said.

"What?" Sam said. Daniel nodded in the direction of the light room--he'd changed the subject. "Oh--well, that's what I'm assuming, since we didn't find any foreign substances in any of the samples and since the pedestal doesn't seem to have a reservoir for a substance..."

"But a power source is basically a reservoir for energy, right?" Daniel said. "If we're assuming they built a battery that's lasted all this time, how do we know they didn't have a reservoir of some chemical that lasted this long? If you're assuming it's an energy because you didn't find the chemical, why wouldn't we assume it's a chemical because we can't detect the energy?"

"Well...I admit it's...possible," she said. "But it's less likely, just based on what we know."

Daniel opened his mouth, then closed it, looking annoyed, but didn't respond.

"Not that it's not possible," Sam repeated, confused. Hadn't the colonel said Daniel was mad at them about something and he didn't know what? Maybe that was what this was. Whether or not it was justified, she found herself trying to explain, "We know for certain that their power crystals can last a long time, and we've never seen evidence of a chemical that could or would last so long without being degraded or running out, that's all."

"Yeah," Daniel said.

Sam couldn't tell whether that was agreement. "Um..."

"No, it's not... I just hate having my brain...influenced by things no one can see," Daniel said, flapping a hand at his head. "It feels like I'm always going insane or something."

"No one likes this, Daniel, but we'll get over it--two weeks will be over fast."

"It's just...doesn't it feel like you want to be angry but you can't?"

"I don't feel like I want to be angry," Sam said. "Are you angry about something?"

Daniel furrowed his brow. "I should be sad, at least. SG-5 is dead. And every time I think about that, I keep thinking about how much I want to finish reading that pillar." He pointed, and for a moment, he actually _did_ seem to be distracted before he shook his head. "I'm getting tired of not knowing whether I'm thinking things because they're me or because something's telling my brain to think them."

On second consideration, Sam wondered if she wasn't as frustrated with the situation as she might have been exactly because of that--the colonel had managed to hold onto being pissed off from the withdrawal for a while, but even he was calm now, and the only thing really bothering Sam was that she didn't have anywhere to plug in the AC adapter for her laptop. "Okay," she conceded, "it is a little weird."

He huffed. "It's going to get worse, isn't it?"

"Well, it might be okay, going down one step at a time," she said.

"Because the Goa'uld are notorious for caring about the comfort of human slaves," Daniel said.

Actually, it would be in the Goa'uld's interest to make sure their slaves didn't get uncomfortable or annoyed enough to do anything like rebel, which would only mean more trouble for the masters. She frowned. "What's going on? Are you feeling off again?"

"Are you?" Daniel said uncertainly. "I think I have a headache."

"That's probably just from today and yesterday; I didn't decrease it that much," she assured him, then stood, glad to be busy with something. "Let me get you some aspirin, and then go to sleep and see if you feel better when you wake up."

"I'm sorry," he said as she rummaged through the medical kit to find what she was looking for. "I have no right to be annoyed at you."

Sam thought over that odd wording as she fished out some water. "Since when?" she said, handing everything over. He glanced at her but didn't answer. "Let me guess," she said, too curious to be wary anymore. "Since Shifu gave you that dream?"

He leaned back against the Stargate platform. "I'm going to change the subject," he said.

"Daniel..."

"No, really," Daniel said.

Sam sighed. "Okay," she allowed.

"I don't have a subject to change it to," he said after a short wait.

She laughed, only to stop and wonder if it was funny or if she was a little high. "We'll talk tomorrow, then. I'll find buttons to push and you can read the instructions to tell me what they do."

"That sounds like...a lot of fun, actually," he said, smiling ruefully himself. "Good night."

XXXXX

**_7 May 2001; Palace, P4X-347; 1500 hrs_ **

It wasn't until they'd been at the Goa'uld palace for almost a week that Jack realized he'd never _actually_ seen Daniel in real, full-on geek-out mode in the middle of an off-world project. He was ashamed to admit that it took being tripped over by a distracted Daniel to realize this.

The oddest part was that, after tripping over Jack at the bottom of a staircase, Daniel wobbled but kept his feet, and then lunged to catch the notes that almost dropped, so he ended up on the floor anyway (but the papers were safe). And then he got up and kept walking. Jack had serious doubts about whether he'd noticed having fallen at all and didn't think his eyes had left the notes the entire time.

"Ah...hello?" Jack said as Loran appeared at the top of the stairs and watched them.

"Hold on, wait, hold on," Daniel said, not looking up. "I'm going to lose my place. Sam, where are you?"

_"_ Here! _"_ Carter's voice called. "Where are _you_?"

"I'm coming!" Daniel yelled back, and then he disappeared around a corner.

Loran ran lightly down the staircase. "Maybe I should help him so he won't lose his place again," Loran suggested.

"Nah," Jack said, waving a hand. "They'll make you dizzy."

"I'm smart," Loran told him.

Jack grinned. "No, I was talking about how they're running around and being weird. I know you're smart. Why is it I always get stuck with the brainy kids?"

"You're brainy, too," Loran said.

"I've _got_ a brain," Jack corrected.

"That's what I meant," Loran said.

"Well, thanks for that."

Loran plopped down onto the step next to him. "There are lots of empty rooms," he said, gesturing vaguely around them. "Why do you all sleep in the room with the Stargate if there's so much space everywhere else? There are beds upstairs."

"Force of habit," Jack said, not wanting to explain that he, at least, wouldn't sleep well off-world without his team in sight. A Goa'uld palace was never going to feel familiar enough for that. "It's pretty comfortable there."

Looking dubious, Loran nonetheless left it alone and said, "Jack, do you want to see something?" Jack silently told his knees to stop complaining as he smiled and trooped up the staircase after the boy.

...x...

He returned later to find both of his scientists missing. Normally, on a quiet planet like this and inside a Goa'uld palace this huge, he wouldn't mind so much, but Loran started flipping out.

"Maybe they forgot and they left," Loran said, his eyes wide. "Jack, Jack, they'll die!"

"They didn't forget," Jack said calmly, reaching into his pocket for a radio. "And don't worry. Remember this?"

"Oh," Loran said, calming down. "Can I try it?"

Jack looked out the nearest window, saw Daniel's bandana and the top of Carter's head bobbing along toward the entrance, and said, "Sure, go ahead."

Like he'd been doing it all his life--or maybe listening to Jack too much--Loran pressed the button and said, "Carter, Daniel, where are you?"

Okay. Definitely listening to Jack too much.

Daniel stepped inside, holding his radio in one hand and a box in the other. "We're right here, Loran," he said into the radio, looking somewhere between amused and bemused, with just enough annoyance thrown in that Jack knew they must have been outside the range of the Goa'uld happy drugs.

Loran lowered the radio and gave it back to Jack. "We were afraid you'd forgotten that you weren't supposed to leave for long," he said.

Carter was carrying a toolbox with her when she came in and raised an eyebrow at Jack. Jack shrugged at them. "Whatcha up to?" he asked.

"There's an automatic fishing mechanism down at the pier," Carter said.

"Automatic...fishing mechanism?" Jack repeated. "What does that mean?"

"I found a reference to it in there," Daniel said, pointing in the direction of a corridor. "It has a sensor...thing--"

"A transmitter," Carter corrected. "But it's stuck into the water--"

"--and it's supposed to attract food, according to the notes I found," Daniel said.

"So we turned it on. A bunch of fish swam toward it, and a cage closed over them, so the transmitter must emit some sort of...energy, or sound or...something that attracts the fish."

"Aw," Jack said. "That's...that's not fishing!"

"If you came here to get high, wouldn't you want an easy way to get food, sir?"

"I'd want to fish on my vacation, Carter," he retorted, "and that's _not_ it."

"They're not really fish, either," Daniel piped up, setting down his box and opening it up to reveal a dead, long and floppy fish.

"Daniel!" Jack said. "You're gonna drip seawater on our sleeping area."

"I like those fish," Loran told them. Jack glanced at him in surprise, and he added, "The heating machine is very good. To heat the fish."

"They're probably still fish or close enough to fit the biological definition, just different from ones on Earth or Abydos," Carter told Daniel as he crouched over his dead fish and poked at it. "And we didn't kill it for fun, sir. We thought we could try it for dinner tonight instead of MREs again, and Daniel wants to"--she made a face--"look at the insides."

"What?" Jack said.

"Doesn't it look like a Goa'uld?" Daniel said, picking it up and holding it closer.

"No," Jack said.

"It kind of does," Daniel said. He stroked a finger down the back, as if feeling for something.

"It's not a Goa'uld," Jack said.

"Yeah, I know," Daniel said, tapping a fingernail against it. "Look at how hard the scales are."

"You can take them off, too, and they don't break unless you hit them very, very hard, and then they're sharp," Loran said, showing him, and suddenly the two of them were playing with fish scales.

Jack sighed. Loran had an excuse--he'd had years to do nothing but find ways to entertain himself. Daniel was just playing with fish scales for no good reason. "Give me that," Jack said, snatching up the fish to gut it for dinner, since they seemed set on fish tonight. "I'll give the scales back to you two when I'm done."

"The materials scientists at home might be interested in the scales' structure if they're really that strong," Carter said, and then, "Oh, I should have collected mineral samples while we were there. They'll want to compare the composition of the scales with the--"

"You guys took your trip to the beach today," Jack said, picking up a knife. "No going back out until tomorrow."

"I can do that, Jack," Daniel offered, following him as Loran stayed behind to explain the finer points of playing with fish scales to a rather dubious-looking Sam. "You don't have to."

"Nah," Jack said. He'd found out from their team fishing trip last year that Daniel _could_ clean a fish, more or less (and was fascinated by the difference Tau'ri-sharp steel made in the gutting process), but had a habit of getting distracted and forgetting when something was being cooked. Jack wanted to eat something that wasn't burnt, and he was pretty much bored out of his skull here, anyway. "You guys caught the fish; I'll get it cooked."

"I'm not being altruistic," Daniel clarified, still following. "I want to see the skeleton."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Where's this room with a heater Loran was talking about?" Daniel pointed. "This must be the kitchen," he commented, dropping their catch on a table and looking around until he found the disposal chutes they'd found everywhere through the palace. "There wouldn't be knives here, would there?"

"There were, but you can't use them."

"...Why?"

"Because I took them," Daniel said. "We're allowed to steal from abandoned Goa'uld structures. Oh, Jack, the craftsmanship is...is _incredible_. The knives are made of some kind of stone, but they're really sharp, and that's after years and years--obviously, they were stored well, so that's probably part of it, but it's amazing. I wonder how they were made."

"Right," Jack said, skillfully ignoring him and using a field knife instead. "So what've you been up to today?" he said as he worked.

"Wishing an archaeological team were here," Daniel sighed. "Jack, there's so much to see here, and I don't know what I'm doing."

"Well, SG-5 asked for you to come. They must've thought you'd be helpful."

"Captain Lithell would have known so much more about their stoneworking abilities just by looking at things," Daniel said. Jack glanced up, but Daniel didn't seem to notice as he teased a vertebra out of the fish, carefully pulling it free of the tissue surrounding it as he said, "I wonder what Robert would have said if he'd seen this."

"Looks to me like you and Sam figured out most of the important stuff," Jack said. Daniel washed his bone under a tap on the wall Jack hadn't even known about. "Like that," he added, nodding toward the running water.

Daniel turned it off and looked closely at the bone. "It's different from a Goa'uld vertebra," he announced. "I bet the biology department would want a whole skeleton anyway, though. I think they're trying to formulate theories about the evolution of everything everywhere, ever."

"I'll bet," Jack muttered, rolling his eyes.

"How's Loran?" Daniel said after checking outside to make sure the boy wasn't around.

"Ah...he seems okay," Jack confided. "But I don't know... Sometimes, I'm not sure he completely gets it. I mean, he _does_ know past tense in English, right?"

"Yeah. He still talks about his parents like they're alive?" Daniel said. Jack nodded. "It could be this place, keeping us all a little too relaxed. You'd be going out of your mind with boredom and yelling at us otherwise."

"Hey, I'm capable of yelling at you in any state of relaxation," Jack defended. More seriously, he said, "You want to spend some time with Loran? Maybe he'll talk to someone his own age."

"I barely know how to talk to people like Cassandra and her friends," Daniel said, "much less..." He jerked his head in the direction of the 'gate room.

That was fair enough. Daniel had no idea anymore how to relate to most people his own age, and even a few years made a lot of difference to someone Loran's age.

"Besides, you're good at it," Daniel said. "He doesn't need someone like me. He likes you."

"He called me brainy," Jack said. Daniel snorted. "Oh, sure, laugh at me. See if you're my favorite brainy kid anymore." Daniel didn't answer. Jack looked over again to see him frowning. "Ah, come on! You're not going to take that seriousl--"

"No, no," Daniel said quickly, rolling his eyes. "Just, uh...have you thought about what we're going to do with him, back on Earth?"

"Well...there's always the Land of Light. Or place we sent the Nasyans--we've got more than a few friends on safe planets."

"Jack..." Daniel said, then stopped and said again, "But...he likes you."

"Yeah, well," Jack said. "Don't forget about Cassie. There's precedence for stuff like this. We could find a place for him somewhere on Earth where we can keep an eye on him."

"You've been spending a lot of time with him here," Daniel said, and then, tentatively, looking intently at his fish bone, "I know people on Earth can be adopted by parents at his age. And in his case, it might be the most sensible step to take."

"Are you saying _we_ should adopt him?" Jack quipped.

Daniel's head popped up to stare at him. "I'm _serious_ , Jack. Are you thinking about it?"

"He doesn't need a parent who finds a new crazy, get-yourself-killed scheme every few weeks," Jack pointed out, not mentioning that the idea of adopting anyone at all was iffy at best for him, for other reasons. Daniel knew that already.

"That's true."

He fell quiet, then, until Jack would have thought he'd left if it hadn't been for the sound of his occasional shifting around as he looked out the window.

Just as he was about to ask how to use the thing that was supposed to heat their catch of the day, Daniel said, "I'm sorry I tried to shoot myself."

Jack's knife slipped and nicked his hand. "Ah, geez!" he snapped, more from surprise than anything else. He moved his cut finger away from their dinner and turned toward the tap.

" _Ay_...sorry," Daniel said as he twisted a switch under the tap to turn it on. Jack stuck his finger under the running water. "Here, let me see it. Is it bleeding?"

"It's fine," Jack said shortly. It was, too--it stung like a paper cut and wasn't much more serious than one, unless the fish had had some horrible disease.

"I'm sorry," Daniel repeated.

Jack twisted the switch back off. He accepted the ridiculously large square of gauze that was probably the only one Daniel had on his person at the moment, pressing a corner to his finger until he was sure it was no longer weeping blood. "Look," he said, but couldn't find the right thing to say after that.

"I didn't remember it," Daniel said anxiously. "Today, while we were outside, I asked Sam about what I'd missed while I was in withdrawal, because the last thing I remember was being disrespectful to General Hammond and"--he winced--"stomping up to my room."

"You didn't remember?"

"Not much. Not at _all_ , by that point."

"You weren't in your right mind," Jack said stiffly, picking up his knife to wash it.

Daniel nodded earnestly. "I certainly wouldn't have used a gun if I had been."

The knife slipped again, and Jack barely moved out of the way to avoid it this time around. "Excuse me?" he said, incredulous. " _That's_ what you have a problem with?"

"Well," Daniel said, "I was in bad shape then, and my hand could've slipped with the gun--even hurt someone else. The 'gate room would've been crowded. I mean, at least what Dean did, jumping into the _kawhoosh_ , was--"

"Daniel--stop!" Jack snapped, slapping the knife back down on the table where he couldn't drop it anymore. Daniel's eyes were wary, though, so he forced himself to calm down as he said, "What, have you been thinking about this? The best ways to kill yourself?"

"I'm just going through the events logically," Daniel said, looking confused and a little annoyed, and how the _hell_ was he allowed to be annoyed at that? "I think about a lot of things."

Jack raised his hands but dropped them when he couldn't find anything to do with them. "Including _suicide_?"

"Everyone's thought of suicide, at least in passing, as a concept," Daniel retorted. "It's a perfectly natural thing for me to think about after what just happened."

"I don't want you to be thinking about the details of how to do it," Jack said harshly.

Then Daniel's eyes narrowed and he folded his arms. "Well, that's a difference between us, then. You don't think about things you don't want to do, and I don't do everything I've ever thought about! Jack, you think I'd actually consider _killing_ myself? Is that what you think of me?"

"You're making it sound like that!"

"Well, I'm not that irresponsible," Daniel said angrily, which only made Jack angrier and not a little scared.

"That's it?" Jack said. "You wouldn't kill yourself because it'd be _irresponsible_?"

"I don't--!" Daniel started, then quickly looked out into the corridor again and lowered his voice. "I don't want to die, Jack. Do I actually need to tell you that?"

But Jack could still see Daniel staring at his parents' graves while wondering why he was alive and, after Rothman, crying quietly at his desk when he thought no one else was watching, and if this thing with Shifu had been the last straw, and some depression had been there to be amplified until he could stand with a _gun_ to his own _head_... Jack didn't know how the hell he was supposed to answer that, because that was _not_ better than much of anything except being actually dead.

"Jack," Daniel repeated, more gently, "I don't want to die. I really don't. But of course I think about it sometimes. We walk into every mission knowing we could die, even if we're not expecting it, but I would never do it to myself."

"Knowing you could die," Jack echoed.

"Well, I couldn't be effective on the team if I didn't accept that risk," Daniel said, sounding surprised. "That's the nature of...of the missions we take. But it doesn't mean I won't try to avoid it if at all possible. I'm just sorry for putting that image"--he held his hand like a gun--"in your head, knowing...knowing you. That's all I meant to say. Why would you think I'd ever...?"

"I don't know _what_ you're thinking lately," Jack admitted, more shaken than he wanted to admit by the realization that Daniel had reached a point at which he was not only used to the possibility of dying but also comfortable with it. "It's been a rough few months, and then you give us cryptic lines about...dreams and new paths, and whatever else Shifu did to you. How am I supposed to know what the hell any of that means if you won't tell me?"

Daniel stared at him, and then his eyes darted away. "We should cook the--"

"Stop," Jack said. Daniel stopped. "At this point, I think we deserve to know what's going on."

Immediately, the defensive look returned. "You _deserve_ to know? It's not _about_ you!"

"If it's about you, it's about us," Jack retorted. "And if it affects you, it affects us, too, so think about that." When Daniel only crunched his arms together more stiffly, Jack tried, "Let's start with this one. Why do you have to pick a new path?"

"Oma Desala told me that, too, more or less," Daniel said.

"Maybe you need to stop listening to aliens."

"I'm an alien to you."

"Well, then, I'm an alien to _you_ , and I'm telling you to stop listening to glowy octopi."

"Octopodes," Daniel said. "It's not second declension Latin. And most people say 'octopuses.'"

"I'm not laughing," Jack said.

Daniel sighed. "It's not about... It's not that simple."

Jack stomped hard on the desire to shake him hard and see if an answer fell out. "Well?"

"Well...what if I'm doing it all wrong?" Daniel said.

"You're not," Jack said.

"That's not the point."

"How is that not the point?"

"Jack, what if I wanted to... What if I found out..." Daniel trailed off, having apparently bumped into something even he couldn't manage to articulate in words. "I don't always like..." he tried, then stopped again.

"...what we have to do?" Jack finished.

"What _I_ do," Daniel clarified. "It's not just the SGC. It's _me_ , myself. But I don't know anything else. I've never _been_ anyone or anything else."

"If he told you not to be who you are, maybe you shouldn't be listening to him."

"Shifu didn't say that. I realized it a while ago, I guess, but I didn't dare to think about it too much, because I didn't want to change it."

"Change _what_?" Jack said. "Daniel, what could you possibly want to change about yourself?"

"I wanted to help people when I started, three years ago," Daniel said.

"And you have."

"Have I?" Before Jack could start to think back and list things, Daniel said, "No, think about it, Jack. Nothing I've done with SG-1 in the last...months, at least, couldn't have been done better by a trained military officer."

"That's what this is about?" Jack said, reminding himself that Daniel was seriously upset about something to stop himself from scoffing. "You think you're not being enough of a civilian?"

Daniel must have heard the scoffs anyway, though, because he looked hurt. "I know I'm not your perfect subordinate," he said stiffly. "But I used to spend half my time trying to justify things to you with military reasons and the other half trying _not_ to think that way for Robert, and now that he's... I don't know if I'm filling my purpose anymore. I think I've forgotten what that was to begin with."

"Maybe you never knew."

"Maybe--"

"So I'm going to tell you what it is right here and now," Jack said firmly. "Your job is to be a member of SG-1 and the Social Science department. You tell me in the field when you see something we miss, and you tell people on base when they're missing something because they've never seen it in the field."

"But what's the point?" Daniel said, frustrated. "Jack, what's the point of any of it?"

_("None of it means anything," Daniel said. The gun pressed against his skull.)_

"We've helped a lot of people," Jack said. "We have, and you're a part of that. Do you think I'd let you onto my team if there weren't a damn good reason for it? I know you were messing around when Bauer was on base. I need someone like that."

"Even if we'd let Bauer get on with the project, the same thing would have happened at the SGC," Daniel said, "and he would have been kicked out sooner for incompetence. And the Tobin mine, with Heru-ur and Apophis...given what happened, letting it kill all of us probably would have been better in the long run. And--"

"And we'd be dead--me, Carter, Jacob, Teal'c, Rak'nor," Jack said. "You did the right thing with the available intelligence at the time. No one else could've solved that. Blame me or Jacob for Heru-ur if you have to blame someone. You had good intentions, Daniel. You always do."

"You always have too much confidence in my good intentions," Daniel said, wearing an odd expression that unnerved Jack because he didn't understand it.

" _I_ don't think so," Jack said.

"Well," Daniel said, "then if I ever abused that, you'd be in a bad position, wouldn't you?"

"You wouldn't," Jack said, exasperated.

"You don't know that. _I_ don't know that."

"You always think too much, anyway."

Daniel scowled. "Maybe you don't think enough."

Jack pushed down his first retort and said, "Then we make a good team, don't we?"

Daniel took a deep breath, then let it out slowly, moving to the gutted fish to place it inside some device that Jack thought looked like a drawer made of gold with buttons on the side. Once he'd closed and--presumably--turned it on, he said, "I don't always have good intentions. Sometimes I don't even think about the people we might be helping until after we've already killed the enemy. It's always about killing the Goa'uld first these days. It wasn't always like that for me." He frowned. "Or maybe it was, and that's the problem."

"Same results," Jack said cautiously.

"But it matters that I don't--"

"What matters," Jack interrupted, "is that you're learning when you need to stop thinking like it's a puzzle and get the job done. That's not a bad thing." When Daniel didn't look convinced, he added, "I wouldn't be having this argument with anyone else. _That's_ what you do--you think about stuff, and sometimes you think too much, but what matters is what you end up _doing_."

"What if I don't do the right thing?" Daniel said.

"You would," Jack said, "and if you didn't, I'd have Teal'c sit on you until you thought again. And if Teal'c agreed with you, it probably means I was wrong to begin with, and if _Carter_ thought you were wrong--"

"She'd assume I had good intentions and try to convince me gently until it was too late."

"That's...pessimistic, even for you," Jack commented, and all of a sudden, he wondered if this was what had happened in Shifu's dream. "The point is, if I'm wrong, you'll stop me, and if you're wrong, I'll stop you. That's how it works."

"We have the team," Daniel said. It sounded almost like a question.

"We have the team," Jack repeated, hoping that was the end of that. "I've given you outs before, in case you wanted to leave, but by now, Daniel, it's not you and then the rest of us anymore; it's all of us. If you tried to leave now, I'd fight you to keep this team together. Okay?"

"I don't know what temperature I set that to," Daniel said, pointing at the oven.

"I will let your fish burn if you don't answer my damn question," Jack warned.

Daniel looked down. "Even though I'm not the kind of person you'd have chosen on your own?" he asked, unusually insecure for someone usually so comfortable with his abilities.

"You think I'd sit in a ship with a giant bomb if I didn't trust the person disarming it?" Jack pointed out. "Or go make nice with the Unas with anyone-- _anyone_ \--but you? We're a good team, Daniel. The only thing stopping you from being with SG-1 all the time now is other teams' grabbing for you as a translator and rules that say you're not old enough."

"Really?" Daniel said, looking caught between surprise and hope.

"And a better score at the shooting range, preferably," Jack amended, then admitted, "But even that's small fries for you by now; your scores on record are from over a year ago. When's the last time we went on a mission, even to somewhere hostile or borderline, and I told you 'no, because you're too young?' You think any of us was thinking that the last time we were in a shootout with enemy Jaffa?"

Daniel hesitated. "I guess it's been a while," he said cautiously, "and I hope what you were thinking was more along the lines of 'run like hell to the Stargate and don't get shot.'"

"Exactly," Jack said. "Requalify on the full set of firearms when we get back to base, grow a couple of months, and you're solid. Okay?"

"Okay," Daniel said.

Jack nodded. "Okay," he said, and then radioed Carter to tell her to please help, because they couldn't figure out how the oven worked.

XXXXX

**_13 May 2001; Palace, P4X-347; 1100 hrs_ **

Teal'c's most recent return to P4X-347 was greeted with much hope. "What'd the doc say about our bloodwork?" O'Neill asked immediately.

"That she does not yet wish you to leave this place," Teal'c told him.

"But even if we go back now, we'd live, right?" Major Carter said. "It's not that big of a jump down anymore."

"Dr. Fraiser does not wish to take that chance. General Hammond is in agreement that you should wait for the process to be completed as instructed on the pedestal."

"Oy," O'Neill sighed.

"That's only a few more days, right?" Daniel Jackson said, looking to Major Carter.

"Yeah," she said. "Teal'c, are you staying?"

"Indeed," Teal'c told her. "Because you are likely to return to base soon, General Hammond has advised me to remain with you instead of joining SG-3 to begin another mission."

"Did you ask General Hammond about me?" Loran said, looking anxious.

"I did," Teal'c told the boy. "He says that you are very welcome on Earth. Because of the secrecy of the Stargate program, you must remain with SGC personnel for a short period of time. There, you can become familiar with the customs of the Tau'ri and decide to remain with a family on Earth or to relocate to another planet where we will introduce you to many friends."

"Wouldn't I have friends on Earth?" Loran said.

"We'll make sure you find lots of friends wherever you pick," O'Neill assured him. "Some rules will be more complicated on Earth, because you can't talk about other planets or the Stargate or the place you came from, but if you decide to stay there, we'll check on you and make sure you stay happy."

"And, uh," Major Carter said, looking at Teal'c, "speaking of...families who don't have clearance..."

"General Hammond has identified individuals with high levels of security clearance," Teal'c said. "As well, Dr. Kalene has expressed a willingness to care for Loran."

"Kalene?" Daniel Jackson said. "Who's that?"

"She's a new member of the counseling staff," Major Carter said, nodding in approval. "She seems very nice."

"I can't stay with you?" Loran said, looking first at O'Neill and then at the rest of them.

"Well..." Daniel Jackson started.

Teal'c did not like the look in his eye and interrupted, "For the first few weeks, you will indeed be near us. Because of our medical protocols, you must first undergo tests to ensure that you will remain healthy."

"Because of the...contagio...conta-gion?" Loran said, looking in question at Daniel Jackson.

"Contagions," Daniel Jackson confirmed. "Or you can say 'diseases.'"

"Diseases," Loran repeated.

"Right," O'Neill said. "Loran, you'll be given some medicines to prevent you from getting diseases, and we'll introduce you to a doctor who'll talk to you and figure out what you need. And then you'll get a few choices and you can pick where you want to stay. How's that sound?"

"Why can't I help Daniel translate things?" Loran said. "I could help."

Daniel Jackson looked like he was partway to agreeing. "Well--" he started again.

O'Neill gave him a sharp look and said, "You'll have plenty of time to do that when you're older. At least wait until you're Daniel's age. Besides, you'll be so busy making friends that you'll forget all about us."

"No, I won't!" Loran said. "Of _course_ I won't, Jack."

"I'm joking," O'Neill said with a fond smile. "But if you want to help us, you can do it when you're older. Don't worry; we'll help you figure things out when we get to Earth."

"Oh," Loran said uncertainly. "Okay."

"Come on," O'Neill finally said, gesturing. "You were going to show me how to play a game upstairs, remember?"

"Yeah," he said. "Sam, you have to come, too." Teal'c watched with some amusement as Loran and O'Neill raced each other up the staircase, Major Carter following behind with a chuckle.

"He already showed me the game," Daniel Jackson told Teal'c when he was not also invited. "Loran likes Jack best, anyway."

Teal'c was not surprised at this. "It would seem that he enjoys working with you," he offered.

Daniel Jackson grinned ruefully. "Yeah, I don't...really know what else to talk to him about. So, that part about staying with SGC personnel for a while is so he can talk to a counselor, right?"

"That is a significant part of General Hammond's concern," Teal'c agreed. "Loran showed me an image that his parents took before they died. He could not have been more than ten Tau'ri years old then. He may be the same age you were when you first began working with us, but I do not believe he is so prepared."

Loran had spoken to Teal'c as a child waiting for his parents to return for him, whether or not he truly believed it would happen. Dr. Mackenzie and General Hammond believed--and Teal'c agreed--that Loran should be treated as the child that he was.

Daniel Jackson finally nodded. "Yeah. He's..." He looked up, where the others had disappeared. "Yeah. Okay. It's not like I started working right away, either, not without help from you guys."

"And he has no home to return to--he does not know the address. The Tau'ri believe children like Loran should not be placed into a war."

"Mm. They don't want to make the same mistakes with him that they made with me."

"You are not a mistake, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said as he set down the tubes that Dr. Fraiser had sent for bloodwork, though the words were also true.

"I wouldn't want them to make those mistakes, either," Daniel Jackson said quietly. Teal'c glanced up and received a small smile in return. "I'm not saying I regret how things played out with me, but...well, I didn't completely understand what I was signing up for when I joined the SGC, even though I thought I did. Loran doesn't, either."

"Nor did the Tau'ri understand, at that time," Teal'c said. "Nor even did I."

"No--of course," Daniel Jackson said, shrugging. "It's not like anyone could've predicted the way things happened, and I certainly didn't make matters any easier. There wasn't much of choice with me, yeah? But for Loran..."

"It is the opinion of many," Teal'c added carefully, "that children--like Loran--should be given more than one option in the case that they wish to...choose another path at a later time."

He finished pushing the equipment out of the way, feigning casualness until Daniel Jackson said, "You've been waiting weeks for a good chance to say that to me, haven't you."

"We have been concerned about the things you said after the Harsesis child left the SGC," Teal'c acknowledged.

"If you're not busy, do you think you can be concerned while helping me with something?" he said. He pointed down the corridor. "I've gotten to the last couple of rooms, and there's some text that I think I'm translating right, but I don't know what it means--"

"I would be happy to assist you," Teal'c told him, then followed him down the corridor.

"What I find really interesting," Daniel Jackson said, gesturing widely with his arms as he talked, "is that the majority of the...the main comfort rooms are all in that one block of space. There are rooms upstairs, but I think they only feel huge to us because they seem to be designed for many people to stay in each, not just one person."

"Then they are most likely quarters where the slaves stayed while their Goa'uld master enjoyed the pleasures of this place," Teal'c said.

Daniel Jackson nodded eagerly. "That's what I thought! And I think a lot of rooms were actually meant to allow slaves to work. Oh, here it is," he said, gesturing inside a room.

Teal'c stepped in and looked around curiously. "Have you determined the identity of the Goa'uld who used this palace?"

"Dionysos," he answered. "Have you heard of him?"

"He was said to be insane," Teal'c said, recalling what little he knew of that Goa'uld. "He has been dead for hundreds of years."

Daniel Jackson made a face. "Insane even for a Goa'uld, huh. The myths say he was afflicted with madness, and he was often associated with losing one's rational mind. I've always assumed that was related to the part about drinking a lot of alcohol, though."

"Then it seems this was a fitting place for Dionysos."

"Mm-hm. Okay, uh...what's this line mean?" Daniel Jackson said, bending toward the bottom of a pillar and pointing at a phrase. "' _Dis kel'ma rakeram_.'"

Teal'c raised his chin in surprise, but Daniel Jackson did not notice and continued speaking.

"Now, if I'm understanding it correctly, I'm pretty sure that has something to do with how, in Tau'ri mythology, Dionysos is known as the 'twice-born' god, but this makes it sound literal. Does that mean something specific?"

"Indeed it does," Teal'c said, "though I have never truly heard of its occurrence. It is a ritual in which a Goa'uld implants a second, larval symbiote within himself before it is fully mature and prepared for true blending."

"Really?" Daniel Jackson said, sitting and leaning casually against the wall. "That's possible?"

Teal'c considered but had to admit, "I do not understand how it could be. I have never heard of a successful _dis kal'ma rokaram_. It is believed to be nothing more than a legend."

Daniel Jackson frowned thoughtfully. "Maybe it wasn't implanted in the Goa'uld itself, but the Goa'uld implants it into someone else as a...a non-Jaffa incubator and the stories exaggerated some aspects. In the myths, Zeus, the father of Dionysos, saved him as a larva--I mean, as a fetus--because his mother had died, and implanted Dionysos into his own leg until birth."

"You may be correct that the implantation took place in another," Teal'c said. "Such early blending is said to affect the larva greatly--perhaps that was the reason for Dionysos's madness."

"Maybe Zeus was a little crazy, too, since he allowed it to happen," Daniel Jackson suggested.

"I have never heard of the Goa'uld Zeus."

"Maybe he never became a System Lord because he was crazy."

"That is possible," Teal'c said as he also sat down on the floor, so that he and his friend's eyes were at the same level.

Daniel Jackson stared at him for a moment, then turned back to the pillar. "Uh," he said. "And, uh...this is all...well, okay, it's extolling the virtues of Dionysos...you know what annoys me a lot about Goa'uld records?"

Patiently, Teal'c' said, "I do not."

"I never know who wrote it. I can imagine a Goa'uld being egotistical enough to write about himself, but would he really take the time? But if it's a Jaffa, or a human slave--"

"A Jaffa is more likely," Teal'c said. "The slaves are not taught to write, but some Jaffa are. One of my brothers, Fro'tak, worked in the Hall of Records on Chulak."

"Right, of course, no human literacy. But still, the different perspective between a ruler and his worshippers...well, it makes a difference," he explained. "But I don't suppose a Jaffa would be allowed to sign his name on a pillar or anything like that."

"No," Teal'c confirmed.

Daniel Jackson shrugged. "Yeah. That's all I've got. Thanks for your help, again."

Teal'c nodded and waited for more. When nothing followed, he said, "Is there anything else you wish to ask me?"

"Well...maybe," Daniel Jackson said, lacing his fingers together. "It's kind of personal."

"You may ask me anything," Teal'c said.

He hesitated again, then said very quickly, "What would you do if you had unlimited power?"

Teal'c did not think that was very personal, in comparison to the kinds of things of which they regularly spoke. "I would destroy all of the Goa'uld," he said simply.

Nodding, Daniel Jackson pressed, "But when that's done, you still have all this knowledge and power, and no one can stop you no matter what you do--what would you do next?"

And then Teal'c understood what the true question was, so he said carefully, "I hope that I would act as honorably as you yourself would in that position, Daniel Jackson."

Daniel Jackson snorted. "You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"A dream is not life," Teal'c said. "Do not judge yourself by a dream that another gave you."

"It wasn't like that. In the dream, the only thing Shifu did to Sha'uri and me was give us knowledge; the rest... Gods, it was so _real_ , Teal'c. Everyone acted exactly as they should have."

"Except you and Sha'uri," Teal'c said.

"But see, even that..." He shivered. "Everything I did in the dream... I still remember how it felt, and why I did it, and even now it doesn't feel...foreign. Like part of me really wanted to do it-- _me_ , not Shifu. _Naturu_." He sighed, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. "How can any part of me want that?"

"I cannot help you if you do not tell me what occurred," Teal'c said. "Perhaps together, we can discover the true meaning of Shifu's dream."

"I think I know the meaning--"

"Do you know everything already?" Teal'c said. "Open your mind. There may be some meaning that you were unable to see."

Daniel Jackson frowned. "Okay," he said.

"What did you see in your dream?" Teal'c prompted again. "You said that Shifu gave all of the knowledge of the Goa'uld to you and his mother."

"Right," Daniel Jackson said. "Right, yeah. And, uh...and then Sha'uri and I designed a..." He made a face and held up his hands as if to encircle a ball. "It was a system that would detect any threat to a planet that the Goa'uld could pose. They needed me and Sha'uri, so they did everything we told them to."

"They?" Teal'c repeated.

"The SGC, the Pentagon, America, Nagada, Abydos," Daniel Jackson said. "We separated tasks among people--I said it was for security, but by then, I was already...planning more and trying to make sure no one would be able to figure it all out."

"What is it you were planning?"

Daniel Jackson shrugged, his lips twitching in what was almost a smile. "What do you think? I had the world ready to do anything I wanted. What comes after that?"

Teal'c considered saying again that a dream was constructed of fears and desires, not truth, but, because he could not be sure whether it was a fear or desire, or perhaps both, he remained silent.

"We needed Earth and Abydos," Daniel Jackson continued, "for technology and naquadah, so I stayed on Earth to...to 'supervise,' and Sha'uri stayed on Abydos. Even from the start, I thought she was acting suspicious, and soon we were...spying on each other, threatening each other..."

_Like opposing System Lords, forced to ally temporarily but still guarding their own territories and seeking to gain more_ , Teal'c thought. "I see," he said.

"Yeah," Daniel Jackson said, looking down. "By the end, I'd been planning for months to take control of Tau'ri governments as soon as I had the firepower in place to enforce it. Sha'uri and I were just waiting to betray each other, and eventually, we both did."

Thinking quickly, Teal'c said, "How is it that your friends allowed such a thing to happen?"

"Sha'uri set up prisons. Mine accidents. I...got you all to leave in other ways. You were the first."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "I am honored."

"It's not funny," he snapped.

"Indeed it is not. If I was the first, then you believed I would have remained true if I had stayed."

Daniel Jackson bowed his head again. "Of course you would. You knew. You always knew. You tried to stop me."

"If I did not prevent this from befalling you," Teal'c said, "then I failed you."

"That's _exactly_ what you said. So Sha'uri and I found a mission that...that...it doesn't matter. But when you didn't come back, people started to wonder. We got Kasuf to look after Shifu to keep him busy, and I told everyone Sam was insane and threw her in prison when she started asking questions. Sha'uri did the same to Skaara. I made Janet retire, locked Martouf in an asylum..."

"Then you understand," Teal'c said reasonably, "that if ever such a thing were to happen, you would be surrounded by those who still saw the truth. I am certain that it was for that reason that you sent us away in your dream."

He shook his head. "But part of me was willing to do those things to them. To _you_."

"You would not have--"

"I was so angry," Daniel Jackson interrupted. "Sam... She listens to people because they're above her in rank, over my advice even if we both know I'm right, and when _I_ told her to listen to me, she refused. And I knew how much it would hurt her if everyone thought she was mentally unstable, so I did that, too. And what I did to you...it felt good."

He stopped and did not seem about to continue. Teal'c did not ask what had happened to O'Neill. "You said that the message of the Harsesis was that no one could have all of that knowledge without being corrupted," Teal'c said.

"We were so sure it would be okay. How could knowledge be evil?"

"The knowledge you had was not only facts," Teal'c pointed out. "To know Apophis is to understand how much he hated, how much he loved power, and what he would have done for it. That is what his knowledge brought to you."

"Data, knowledge, memory," Daniel Jackson said, frowning at his hands. "And none of the wisdom to use it. If someone completely, _really_ good had taken that knowledge..."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "Such a person would not be whole. No human--or Jaffa--can truly know nothing of evil."

"I just never realized there was so much of that in here." He gestured toward his head.

"Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said bluntly. "There is a part of you that wishes me gone, is there not?"

"No!" he denied, shaking his head emphatically and looking alarmed. "Teal'c--"

"I am grateful for your friendship," he said, "and I know that you value mine. But I regret that I have taught you much of hate and of vengeance."

"I don't hate you," Daniel Jackson said quietly, sounding more like the child Teal'c had met almost four years ago than like the brother he was now. "That's all...behind us. In the past."

"What has passed between us," Teal'c answered gently, "we have suffered and survived together. To deny it is to deny who we are."

"I wish you hadn't done...some things," Daniel Jackson said tightly, not looking at him. "My parents. Skaara and Sha'uri. But I don't hate you. I _can't_."

"But you have reason to be angry with me," Teal'c said. "And you have so often found yourself powerless that you would welcome the ability to take power from those who have commanded you. These are not thoughts to be ashamed of."

"Until I act on them."

"Do you remember the Atanik armbands?" Teal'c said. "You did not blame O'Neill or Major Carter for their actions then."

"They were drugged," Daniel Jackson said, "and they destroyed Apophis's mothership."

"They also injured several people when they left the base for no other reason than carelessness in their desire to enjoy their power," Teal'c reminded him. "They even injured us, their friends."

"They didn't mean to, though. I meant to, in my dream."

Teal'c suppressed a sigh. "And yet they were very much themselves--only unstoppable. If you blame those devices or the Tok'ra for their actions during that time, then you must also blame the Harsesis or the Goa'uld knowledge for anything you or Sha'uri did in your dream."

Daniel Jackson considered. "But all of that...it's still _in_ me."

"Indeed," Teal'c said, "just as O'Neill and Major Carter were truly pleased to be so powerful. Yet it is not all that they are."

"I don't like that about me."

"You are a good, whole person, Daniel Jackson, and it is not in spite of the parts you fear."

Still frowning deeply, Daniel Jackson said nothing.

"I have not yet answered your question," Teal'c said. "If I had the knowledge of the Goa'uld, I would destroy them. Then I would revive them so that I could kill them again. Their race would become slaves to us, as we have been slaves to them. I would allow you, my friend, and Tau'ri itself to fall before I allowed anyone to stop my rule over the Goa'uld."

Daniel Jackson's mouth had fallen open and his eyes were wide. "Uh," he said. "Wow."

"Fortunately," Teal'c said, "none of us has that power."

"Yeah," he said, looking discomfited. "Teal'c, you wouldn't _really_. I mean...not _you_."

It was astonishing to Teal'c that Daniel Jackson, of all people, could think so well of him. Teal'c could admit to himself that, if he had been given the chance, he would have done his very worst to the Goa'uld. He wished fiercely for that chance, even as he was ashamed--he could see even now the looks of disgust on his friends' faces if he did such a thing. "Think with your mind," Teal'c said, "not with your heart. Would I do such a thing?"

For a moment, Daniel Jackson stared at him, and then looked away. "Maybe," he allowed, but added loyally, "but only in an extreme set of circumstances."

"None of us is invulnerable to corruption. I would perhaps have believed you the closest."

"That's...a bad choice of belief," Daniel Jackson said.

"Perhaps." Teal'c leaned forward. "You have shown me more kindness and forgiveness than I deserve. You are deserving of my trust. I will not forgive you for what you have not done and what I trust you would never do."

Daniel Jackson did not move for a long time and instead blinked at the pillar nearby, as if considering the words written there. Finally, he sighed and said, "Do you think we're doing the right thing? What we do at the SGC?"

"Yes."

"That's it? Yes?'"

"Yes," Teal'c repeated simply.

"We've done good things," he said.

"Indeed we have."

"How do I know I won't...slip and do the wrong thing, for the wrong reasons?"

"Because you fear it too much."

"I don't like the idea that the only thing holding me back from doing something--from _wanting_ something terrible--is fear," Daniel Jackson said.

Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "What holds us back from such things but fear of what we would become? Did I not show you that you cannot succeed if you hold back for fear?"

"That was in the gym, and it was about fear that you'd hit me if I missed a punch."

"Then do not miss," Teal'c said. "There is too much good in you to waste fearing yourself."

Standing up, Daniel Jackson said, "You all have too much faith in me."

"Trust in us, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c countered, pushing himself to his feet as well.

O'Neill's voice sounded from above, followed by Loran's. Daniel Jackson glanced upward, as if he could see the others. "Jack trusted me," he said quietly. "That's what happened to him."

"And Shifu told you he was proud of the choices you have made, not in the dream, but outside it, on your own," Teal'c reminded him. "If you will not believe us, perhaps you will believe him."

"I believe you," Daniel Jackson protested.

"Then you must therefore believe in yourself," Teal'c said. "Did you learn from the dream?"

"A little too much, maybe."

"Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said, "is it possible to learn too much?"

"That doesn't sound like me, does it," he said, laughing weakly. "So...what do _you_ think Shifu meant about choosing another path?"

"I think your path cannot be chosen but must be made," Teal'c said. Daniel Jackson looked surprised, and then thoughtful. "And you will neither make nor walk that path alone."

"Well," Daniel Jackson said. "Good. I have a feeling I'll need you guys on whatever path it is."

"As we will need you," Teal'c said.

"Okay," he said, nodding, no longer lost in thought but rather found in purpose. "I can do that."


	23. Archaeology

**_19 May 2001; Infirmary, SGC; 0900 hrs_ **

"Don't you have enough of our blood to last you a lifetime?" Jack said as Janet tied a tourniquet around his arm.

"If you don't want me to have to stick you more than once, Colonel," Janet answered, "stop moving."

Daniel paged idly through the list of planets that had been flagged for potential next missions, either from MALP telemetry or another first-contact team's recommendation. "Hey, Daniel," Sam said from the next gurney over, holding up reports she was looking through herself, "are there any non-physical science ones in that pile you want to check out?"

"Uh..." Daniel said. He flipped faster, skimming quickly. "Why?"

"One of my old professors from the Academy asked for someone to give a couple of guest lectures to start off their summer semester," she said. "He's asked General Hammond, since we're supposed to be NORAD, and, well, the general suggested me."

"But you're _my_ scientist," Jack protested. "What if we're off-world and we have to dismantle a..." He paused.

"An explosive device," Teal'c suggested.

"Yeah," Jack agreed. "What then?"

"I'd advise you to run away," Janet said. Jack scowled at her.

"It'll just be a day or two, sir," Sam assured him. "I'm supposed to keep an eye out for potential students, too. I can pick sometime when we're not on the rotation, but just in case a mission runs too long, I figured I should schedule it for when you're less likely to need me."

Daniel tilted his head. "Could we go to P7X-377 while you're at the Academy?"

"Which is...?" Jack said.

Sam thought for a moment, then said, "You want to visit Nick."

"Not _visit_ so much as...check on him and see if we can learn anything about Quetzalcoatl and his--or its--race," Daniel said. "And if we go prepared, we might be able to do a more in-depth survey of the place. Don't you want to know what the pyramid was made of?"

" _I_ want to avoid almost dying of radiation," Jack said.

"You didn't even get irradiated last time," Daniel told him, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah," Jack said, "because I was _invisible_ , which kind of sucked."

"Not invisible. Immaterial."

"Even worse."

"The thing is," Daniel insisted, "Teal'c's the best suited for it, physically, but since he doesn't get moved out of phase, he'd probably just be in _more_ danger than a human, anyway, as long as the humans stay out of phase for the duration. I can request to return with a research team instead of SG-1, which would free up Sam."

"Really?" Jack said. "You want to go out with another team _again_?"

Daniel couldn't deny he'd been joining other teams more often recently. He wasn't sure if it was because part of him was still trying to prove that he did more than just kill things or if he simply felt secure enough in his place on SG-1 that he wasn't afraid to ask for other assignments, or even if other teams were getting confident enough in him that they would ask him. He supposed that was good, though--his place might be changing all the time, but he'd make his path from that.

One of the planets in his pile had _'SG-5'_ marked on it as a suggested team for further study. With a pang, he checked the date and decided a new team must have been formed in SG-1's absence.

"No missions yet," Janet said before anyone could answer. "I want you all to stay on Earth for at least forty-eight hours until I'm convinced you're back to normal."

"That'd give us time to get everything together and set our schedules straight," Sam said, holding out her arm for Janet to take a blood sample, too.

Daniel turned toward a disgruntled-looking Jack. "It's a good planet for a relatively new team like SG-11 to see," he said. "Not too dangerous as long as we know what we're doing yet very, very alien so they get used to the odd parts of the job. And you can help get Loran settled."

Finally, that seemed to decide Jack. "Fine, if Hammond agrees," he sighed. "But I'm telling Edwards to be strict about safety protocols, and if you don't leave when he tells you to, I'm giving him permission to zat you and drag you back. You know he would."

"Yeah, probably," Daniel said, nodding. "Okay. I have to ask General Hammond about a few things concerning Nick, anyway."

Teal'c appeared in the doorway of the infirmary with a hand on Loran's shoulder. "Loran," he said, "this is Dr. Fraiser. She will complete your medical examination."

"Hi," Loran said, looking both curious and timid.

"Hi, there," Janet said, smiling. "You just met the general?"

Loran nodded. "Yeah. He was really nice."

"Good," she answered, then gestured. "Why don't you sit up here and we'll get to know each other. Okay?"

He moved hesitantly away from Teal'c and studied the gurney before climbing up to sit on it. "Can I stay?" Jack said.

Janet glanced at Loran first, then said, "Sure, Colonel. But it might be easier if everyone else weren't watching."

Taking the hint, Daniel and Sam hopped down from their gurneys. "Do you need someone to check on Cassie, Janet?" Sam said. "It's chess day. We could go keep her company until you get home."

"Thanks, Sam," Janet said, nodding. "Maybe Colonel O'Neill and Loran would like to join us for chess when we're done?"

"Sure," Jack said easily, punching Loran lightly on the arm. "You can meet your first local friend--she's your age. Whaddaya say?"

"Um...okay," Loran agreed, fidgeting nervously but smiling at him.

Daniel collected his jacket and left with Sam and Teal'c. It was good to be back.

XXXXX

**_29 May 2001; P3X-377; 0600 hrs_ **

"Phew," Lieutenant Devon said, yawning. "Early, isn't it?"

Stemler looked around the landscape. "It's pretty bare around here, huh. You'd think there'd be...I don't know..."

"Trees," Daniel offered, suppressing a smile.

"Or something besides that pyramid," Stemler agreed, missing the joke. Daniel supposed it didn't seem as funny to the newer SG teams as it had been to the first teams, who'd taken several missions to stop being surprised by the Earth-like environments on so many planets. These days, that was all covered in a few sentences during the new personnel briefings.

"I have a question," Devon said, picking up his pace. "If you can't touch things out of phase, why didn't you guys fall through the ground?" And then, "We won't fall through the ground, right?"

"You can fall through some grounds," Daniel said. "Jack fell through...I think it was a step on the staircase or something. Sam thinks it could have to do with a number of factors--material composition, structure, density. There's definitely some interaction with objects in our phase, and obviously there's still gravity, but hopefully, we'll be able to ask about that or figure some of it out while we're here."

They arrived at the pyramid entrance. Daniel looked around the interior, almost expecting to see Nick somewhere, though, of course, he must be out of phase.

Colonel Edwards led the way across the narrow bridge. The crystal skull at the end of the path glittered brightly from the reflected light of the sun.

"All right," Daniel said as they stepped off onto the central platform. "So...should I just...?"

"Go ahead," Edwards said. His hand rested on his gun. Daniel hoped that was just a reflex of some sort, because the gun wasn't going to do them much good here. He wondered what would happen if they got shot while out of phase. Then he wondered if a TER could shoot something out of phase like this, or if it was in a different out-of-phase phase. He made a mental note ask Sam.

Daniel moved in front of the platform. "Don't do anything before it finishes," he warned as he prepared to start. Taking a breath, he bent until his eyes were level with the eyes of the skull.

For a moment, nothing happened, and he thought with a shock of panic that maybe Quetzalcoatl had left and taken his grandfather, too, but then the first flash of color appeared at the edge of his vision. Daniel automatically started to turn to see what it was, but--

"Radiation's increasing."

"Holy shit, you feel that?"

\--there was something too fascinating about the eyes, the way they tunneled deeper into the skull than they looked at first glance, the way light seemed to pool inside them, the way the dancing flickers of light made them seem almost alive... Daniel squinted harder, eager to see past the streaks and heat rushing past him and almost blinding him--

The field collapsed back onto itself. Daniel turned around to see the other members of the team looking around as if to see if anything had changed. "Can everyone see each other? And touch each other?" he said.

A quick ripple of glances and surreptitious pokes and kicks established this as a 'yes.'

"So, did it work or not?" Lorne said.

"Um," Daniel said. He picked himself up and brushed off his hands. "I have no idea. Everything in the vicinity could have been shifted with us even if it did work, so seeing what we can touch doesn't work... Quetzalcoatl!" he called. "Are you there? We're enemies of the Goa'uld."

Nothing happened.

"We can just go back to the Stargate and see if we can touch the DHD," Devon suggested. "Or if our GDO sends the right signal...that kind of thing."

"Whoa, wait," Stemler said, holding a meter in his hand. "Radiation levels are way down. This is lower than any MALP readings have ever reported for this planet."

"Okay, I think we got shifted," Lorne said.

"The MALP," Daniel said, jogging down the steps and starting across the land bridge. "It should still be sitting right outside the pyramid. If it didn't get transported with us, we can verify by just trying to touch--"

When he was halfway across, a familiar figure appeared at the entrance of the pyramid. "Hello," Nick Ballard said.

Daniel stopped. "H-hello," he said, suddenly nervous. He glanced back to make sure no one was raising a weapon, but SG-11 seemed to be staring in something between surprise and caution. "Hi. Nick. Dr. Ballard. Do you remember--"

"Daniel," Nick said, smiling. "I remember you. Where's Jack? And...who were the others again?"

"Um...Major Carter and Teal'c," Daniel reminded him. "Actually, you probably knew Teal'c as Murray. But I came with a different team of people this time, so Jack and the others aren't here, but..." He quickly finished crossing the bridge and gesturing to the approaching members of SG-11. "This is Colonel Edwards, the commander of this unit. They're SG-11."

"Pleasure," Edwards said neutrally.

Nick didn't seem too impressed. "Uh," Daniel said, scratching his head. "So, um...how are you?"

"Good," Nick said.

"Okay," Daniel said. "Well...what have you been doing? Talking with Quetzalcoatl?"

Nick nodded. "Yes."

Daniel opened his mouth, then closed it.

"Where is he?" Edwards spoke up from behind.

"It's a big planet," Nick said, shrugging. "He must have known I would come to meet you and did not come himself."

"I'm sorry we didn't come back sooner," Daniel said. "But between radiation spikes and other--"

"You must be very busy," Nick said, looking unconcerned. "Why are you here now?"

"Well, to check on you, first of all. To learn about Quetzalcoatl and the crystal skull, too, and to ask if...if you're ready to come home?"

"Home?" Nick repeated. "No, no-- _this_ is my home." Daniel felt a tiny hope he'd never noticed before drop away. "This world is amazing. Quetzalcoatl has shown me so many things that I could never imagine where I came from. What is there for me on Earth?"

Daniel nodded. "Oh," he said, thinking that he understood the feeling but didn't want to say it, because he didn't want to agree so easily. "But, uh...actually, would you mind...telling us about your experiences here? About all that you've seen--"

"Yes, that's right," Nick said, smiling up at him, "you're a student of archaeology, aren't you? Come with me. I'll take you to Quetzalcoatl. We've become good friends." He beckoned at the entrance to the pyramid and waited expectantly.

"Are we allowed to look around in here, too?" Daniel said, even as he began to inch toward his grandfather and reached for his camera, hoping that whatever he recorded while out of phase would translate properly after they returned to normal. "Maybe take a few soil samples for analysis, measure the skull's emissions...that kind of thing?"

"As long as they do not deface the structures too much," Nick said, shrugging again.

"Should we be splitting up?" Stemler said warily.

"We can keep in touch by radio," Daniel suggested. Just to make sure it worked--he still wasn't very clear on the whole phase shifting concept--he thumbed his radio and said, "Right?" The radios worked fine.

Edwards looked at his watch, then said, "Lorne, go with them. Check in every hour, and remember we're due back for a check-in on base in twenty-four hours. If we see radiation rising, you come back right away without question."

...x...

Nick led Daniel and Captain Lorne out of the pyramid and immediately began circling around to the other side to go around it. "It's a good thing I am here," Nick confided to them. "He was becoming lonely here all by himself."

Daniel exchanged a glance with Lorne. "Really?" he said. "There's, uh...it's just the one of the...mist...people, just Quetzalcoatl?"

"You are thinking too simply," Nick said, waving a hand as they made their way through what looked like the rather barren planet. "Do you know of _teotl_?"

"Um...not really," Daniel admitted, thinking furiously to what he knew of Mesoamerican mythology. He'd studied a little extra in the last few days in preparation for this mission, but that word was barely familiar..."Oh, wait, kind of. It means 'god,' doesn't it?"

Shaking a finger at him, Nick said, "Not precisely. That is a translation many have used, but it is much broader than that. The being you saw calls itself Quetzacoatl, but he is also _teotl_ , the mysterious and unexplainable of everything."

"Like...gods," Lorne said.

"But not just gods," Daniel said, trying to understand. "That's too narrow."

"The giant aliens are very mysterious," Nick said sagely.

"So there _is_ more than one, uh...giant alien?" Lorne said.

"Oh," Daniel said in realization. "I get it. It's everything, so in this context, it's like...one entity that can seem like many. Or many that are part of the one."

"That is closer," Nick agreed.

"Why does he speak Maya, anyway? It's not even related to Nahuatl, as I understand it."

Then Nick grinned, looking truly happy. "The languages are not genetically related, but they share area features. Quetzalcoatl did not restrict himself to watching only the Aztecs. He spoke Maya because I did, as he spoke English to you when you greeted him. He wanted to communicate with me all those years ago when I was first searching for them. There," he said suddenly, pointing to what looked like the edge of a cliff. "Look."

The air shimmered oddly on the other side--it was like everything was just out of focus, and staring at it didn't make it any clearer. "What _is_ that?" Daniel said.

"Just as we were transported to another world by the crystal skull," Nick explained, "Quetzalcoatl does not live fully in this world. We cannot see him completely unless he comes into this world for us to see."

And then Nick tilted his head back and whistled sharply.

" _Naturu_ ," Daniel breathed, fumbling in his pocket for his tape recorder. He'd never heard a language whistled before, not like this, and he'd known, of course, that people did it, that whole conversations could be whistled, and what better way for an alien of mist who probably didn't have conventional vocal cords to communicate, but to _hear_ it...

An answer came in the form of another whistle in the distance, lilting tones and swooping pitches articulated with shorter pulses, and before Daniel could think again, he was pursing his lips and repeating what Nick had whistled only a moment ago.

Nick turned to him in surprise, then chuckled. "Listen again--pay more attention to the length of each segment. But you have a good ear for pitch."

Daniel focused on his grandfather who didn't know he was his grandfather and whistled the same line with him before he thought to say, "I have no idea what that meant."

"We asked Quetzalcoatl if he would speak with us," Nick said.

"And what did he say?"

Lorne jumped violently. "Damn," he muttered, backing up two steps.

Daniel turned around and saw the familiar, misty, giant head rising from the depths of something that might have been a chasm if he'd been able to see it properly.

"He said 'yes,'" Nick said unnecessarily.

"Quetzalcoatl," Daniel called. "I'm sorry if we're intruding--do you remember me from when I was here before?"

Quetzalcoatl continued rising until his giant, transparent head hovered unnervingly near Daniel and Captain Lorne's. Daniel carefully kept his camera aimed upward and tried--in vain--to understand the shifting smoke that seemed to make up the being's form. "You are enemies of the Goa'uld," Quetzalcoatl finally boomed. "You came to exchange knowledge and culture."

"Right, yes, that was us," Daniel said. "Except we weren't allowed to stay, so, uh...look, you're clearly very...smart and more technologically advanced than we are," he said fumblingly. "That crystal skull was amazing to study--I still don't understand how it was made--and we can't understand how you built a pyramid like that one... The point is, you probably know from talking to Nick that you're ahead of us in that kind of thing, right?"

This flood of words seemed to have befuddled the alien into staring some more before he answered succinctly, "Yes."

With a glance at Lorne, who raised his eyebrows and gestured for him to go on, Daniel continued, "Well, what Nick doesn't know is how much trouble we've gotten ourselves into with the Goa'uld."

"You travelled with a Jaffa," Quetzalcoatl said.

"No, no, see, the Jaffa you saw was our friend," he explained, looking up and doing his best to look earnest with a crick in his neck. "We've fought Goa'uld alongside him."

The misty head floated even higher. Daniel watched as the rest of the body appeared under it, that same shifting, not-quite-focused form as so much else around here. "He is an enemy of the Goa'uld?" Quetzalcoatl said.

"Yes, very much so," Daniel called. He wondered where its ears were and valiantly did not run forward to see if he could walk through Quetzalcoatl's leg. It didn't seem polite.

Lorne seemed impatient with the pace of the conversation and said, "Since we're both enemies of the Goa'uld, is there's anything you can do to help us? Or," he added quickly when Quetzalcoatl lowered its head slowly toward him as if in curiosity, "you know...give us some tips?"

Daniel looked at Nick to see if the man would help them. Nick seemed to find them funny.

Then Quetzalcoatl's face loomed close to Daniel's. Unable to help himself, Daniel waved a hand through a misty cheek and discovered he couldn't feel anything at all, which made him wish a little bit that he'd been the one out of phase last time, because Jack must have had so much fun running through things.

"You wish us to fight the Goa'uld?" Quetzalcoatl boomed.

"I guess singular and plural aren't important distinctions for you, huh?" Daniel said. Lorne gave him an exasperated look. "I mean...uh...yeah, that'd be nice. We'd like to ask you if you can help us fight the Goa'uld."

"How?"

"Well..." Daniel hedged, because they hadn't figured this part out beforehand. "The Goa'uld don't ever come here, do they? There must be a reason."

Quetzalcoatl stood back up. "They cannot stay for long. They know that this place is poisoned."

A sinking feeling lodged in Daniel's stomach. "Oh. That's how you countered them?"

"You contaminated the planet and then took yourself out of phase," Lorne realized.

"I could help you do this," Quetzalcoatl suggested. "Poison your land as we did ours, and the Goa'uld will no longer desire your land."

"Uh," Lorne said in alarm, "I don't think our people would like that. And it's not just our planet, either--there are other people we'd like to keep...interacting with."

"Then how do you plan to escape the Goa'uld?"

Daniel frowned. "We're not just trying to escape them. We're trying to defeat them."

Quetzalcoatl managed to look puzzled with no eyebrows and only holes for eyes. Then he turned to Nick, whistled again in that language Daniel could barely recognize as language yet, and sank into the ground and disappeared.

"What?" Daniel said, looking around himself in confusion. "Did we say something wrong?"

"No," Nick said, shaking his head. "He said that he cannot help you."

"But," Daniel said.

"But?" Nick countered.

"Oh," Daniel said.

Then Nick waved a hand and gestured them away from the cliff. "But that is no matter. Come with me--I can show you where his people used to live, before the Goa'uld came."

...x...

They found themselves well out of sight of the pyramid, standing in what looked like it had been a city once. "What happened here?" Lorne said, stepping tentatively toward a crumbled stone wall.

"There were people here once," Nick said, walking in much more comfortably, "but they were destroyed by the Goa'uld. I still don't understand why these Goa'uld are so terrible, though. Many civilizations on Earth were destroyed by their own neighbors, but we wouldn't call all humankind evil, would we? No, of course not."

Daniel pushed back a scowl of annoyance and the urge to blurt out that the man's daughter had been killed by a Goa'uld. The Tok'ra and perhaps even the late Linvris, after all, were proof that not all Goa'uld should be painted with the same brush. "Nick," he said before they could go on, "can I talk to you?"

"We're talking now," Nick pointed out.

"I have something to tell you," Daniel said. "I should have last time, but I wasn't authorized to say just yet."

Tutting, Nick turned and continued walking through the city ruins, saying, "Typical government bureaucracy. Authorized this, authorized that..."

"Nick!" Daniel said, glancing at Lorne and then trotting to catch up to the man. "Wait, please. It's important."

Nick put his hands on his hips again. "Is it about these Goa'uld people?"

"No," Daniel said. "Do you remember how I said last time that I had a lot to tell you about your daughter?"

"You already told me that she was an explorer of alien planets," Nick said, and started off again.

Frustrated, he blurted, "Well, she had a son, and, uh...w-well, I'm her son. So. I wasn't sure whether to tell you before, because it's not like you know anything about me, and then there wasn't time, but there's no reason for you not to know about what she did or anything anymore."

Daniel didn't know what he'd been expecting, but it hadn't been for Nick to frown at him like that. "You don't look like her," Nick said matter-of-factly after a moment.

Lorne had paused several paces behind them. It wasn't far enough not to hear, but it was enough polite distance that he could pretend not to have heard much, so Daniel cleared his throat and answered, "Uh, well, no, not very much, I guess. I got my hair from her," he offered. "Or, I mean, from your side, anyway."

"Although..." Nick said, moving even closer and look more intently at him. Daniel broke eye contact, feeling uncomfortable. "Jack said my grandson was an alien."

"That's relative," Daniel said. "Born on another planet, but biologically, you know..." When Nick only continued to study him, Daniel said uncomfortably, "So, uh...oh! Also, for legal reasons, I'm in possession of your belongings. There wasn't a lot that they sent over, but I...um, I admit I read one of your expedition journals, but I tried not to disturb the other things, and it's all in my pack back in the pyramid if you want it."

Nick shrugged again. "I have no need for my possessions from Earth. You are welcome to them."

Daniel wasn't sure whether or not he wanted to be welcome to them. "Okay...well, I've also got, uh..." He dug into the pocket of his vest, where he'd stuffed a copy of the picture Sam had taken of his parents with the Abydons back in the beginning of the Stargate program. "This was taken almost four years ago. Just before my mother died, actually."

This time, Nick accepted the picture and unfolded it. It seemed to take some time for him to figure out where everything was and recognize--"She wasn't wearing her glasses."

"I never saw her with glasses," Daniel said, surprised. "Did she wear...?"

"She must have broken or lost them very early," Nick said. Shaking his head at the picture, he added, "And here is Melburn Jackson."

"Did you know him well?" Daniel said.

"I never liked him," Nick said.

Defensively, Daniel said, "Why not?"

"He married my daughter."

"Oh," he said uncertainly.

"I suppose I shouldn't have told her that, though," Nick said thoughtfully, surprising a short laugh out of Daniel.

"No, I don't suppose she liked that." Daniel wondered how many other things they'd disagreed about but didn't know how to ask.

Finally, Nick lowered the picture and said honestly, "I don't know what you expect from me."

"I'm not expecting anything," Daniel said quickly. "It just feels like I'm hiding something every time I see you. I thought you had the right to know who I was if I know who you are, that's all."

"I wouldn't be a very good grandfather," Nick told him, though he looked remorseful.

Daniel felt himself nod.

"I'm sorry," Nick added.

"It's okay," Daniel said.

Then again, he already knew blood didn't mean so much, not when he'd found families made totally of people with no blood connection. It was like Mesoamerican languages--even with no genetic relation between many of them, their interaction gave them common features. Daniel might never share much of anything with Nick Ballard other than the memory of Claire, but that was okay. He had his own families, and it looked like Nick had found a place here, too, as odd as it might seem to Daniel. He didn't have a right to expect anything more, and really, he didn't need it.

"How about..." Daniel looked around them at the ruins. "You must have heard a lot about the people who lived here from Quetzalcoatl, yes? I'd love to learn about them. Could you tell us some of it while we're here? I can tell you the kinds of things my mother did on Abydos, too, if you'd like."

Nick hesitated. Daniel wasn't sure whether it was about dropping the subject or not dropping it completely enough, but then Edwards' voice crackled through their radios to ask for an update.

As Lorne answered the hail behind them, Nick nodded and said, "All right. I'll show you the temple first. It's wonderful, being this way--I can walk everywhere without being afraid that I'll trample all over the ground or crush an artifact under my feet." He grinned suddenly and stomped a foot hard on the ground. "See? No tracks. Come with me!"

...x...

Quetzalcoatl's temple in this city looked nothing like the main pyramid near the Stargate.

"Of course," Nick said as they picked their way up the side of the temple, testing each step of the staircase before trusting their weight to it and very aware that a good portion of the temple lay in rubble now, not to mention the parts that their feet sank through without touching. "He built that temple after he transported himself away, but what was built before...well, the ruins still remain."

"How long ago was this?" Daniel said, examining the weathered stone carvings along the side of the temple.

"I haven't figured that out yet," Nick admitted. "He doesn't mark the passage of time in the same way that we do. But all of this is almost certainly older than similar temples from Earth."

"That's a trend we see a lot," Daniel said, pausing at a narrow section of the staircase to let Lorne go ahead of them. "We think it's a mixture of the fact that a lot of Earth's architecture was influenced by already-existing alien architecture and the fact that the Goa'uld on Earth would have suppressed human ideas and taken those ideas to use themselves."

"Say, Doctor--" Lorne started.

"Nick," Nick said.

"Nick," Lorne amended, "is it true you never have to eat or drink in this phase?"

"Or sleep," Nick added gleefully. "There is a specific stasis effect in the crystal skull's power."

"That's not fair," Daniel complained, and then it occurred to him to wonder how much of the physical Nick would experience at all--would he die, eventually? It wasn't just a phase change, then, but something more than that. "Do you ever get hurt while you're in this phase?" he asked, interested in what the limitations were.

"Not really," Nick said.

Daniel peered over the edge of the temple. He kind of wanted to jump off the top just to see what happened when he landed. A hand yanked him back. "What?" he said when he connected the hand to Lorne.

"What are you doing?" Lorne said sharply.

"When Colonel O'Neill was out of phase, he says he fell down an elevator shaft and wasn't hurt," Daniel explained. "I'm just curious--" Lorne pinched his arm hard. "Ow!"

"Your pain nerves work," Lorne said. "And Colonel O'Neill fell down an elevator shaft that was in a _different_ phase than him. This place is weird--we can still touch some stuff. What happens if you break your head open on something in the same phase when you land?"

"It would be messy," Daniel agreed reluctantly. "All right, all right. No jumping."

Nick didn't seem particularly bothered by the experiment or its interruption. Instead, he gestured them both up to the top and said, "Look!"

Looking down, Daniel saw more of the city, and something about the arrangement of the faded streets and the crumbled buildings was captivating--it was as if there were some pattern, some organization that made sense, and if he'd been able to see the rest of the pieces or if he could stare at it longer, he could figure it out. He turned in a slow circle, trying to take it in and _really_ hoping that digital footage shifted phase properly with them. There was one area he could barely see, and he reached into his pocket for his monocular to see why there was nothing built there, except that there was--it was a rectangular area surrounded by a stone edge, with just enough rubble lying around it that he supposed it must have been even more impressive before.

"What was that place, over there?" Daniel asked, lowering the monocular to look at Nick.

"Quetzalcoatl told me the people used to play a ball game there," Nick said.

"Did they die when the Goa'uld came? Or did they run?"

"They were taken," Nick corrected, "those who were not killed immediately. The dead were all buried elsewhere."

"It's like...looking at the corpse of a city," Daniel said

"No, no," Nick told him, starting down the side of the temple they were standing on. "The city was never alive; only the people were. What they left behind is neither dead nor living, and that...now, _that_ is something to see."

"Do you ever wish there were people to talk to?" Daniel said, following him down. "Someone more like you, I mean, not just Quetzalcoatl."

"Ah," Nick said, holding up a finger. "The city may not be alive, but that does not mean that it cannot speak. I will show you."

Finally, they stepped back down onto the ground, where Nick crouched down to point at something near the base of the temple. "The humans of this world no longer talk to us," Nick said, gesturing for Daniel to join him, "but the things they left here talk, too--just not in sounds. You simply have to learn how to speak their language...so to speak."

Nick quirked a mischievous grin at him. Daniel shook his head at the wordplay and looked at where Nick was pointing. "Is that an idol?" Daniel said, leaning close to a carving that lay facedown on the dry soil. "For worship of some sort?"

But when he tried to turn it over and pick it up, his fingers passed through it.

"Oh. Right," he remembered.

"Ah, yes," Nick admitted, flapping his hand casually through the carved idol. "That's a disadvantage of exploring like this. But you can find other carvings that were not destroyed by the Goa'uld. Where did people put them? Were they left disorganized or set carefully in place? How were they carved? What do they depict? Why are there so many at this temple and not so many at the others?"

Daniel nodded. These were things he knew--things Robert had taught him to look for and think about, but it was good, once in a while, to see someone else's enthusiasm to remind him. "I understand," he said. Curious, he pushed his hand through the idol and continued cautiously until he touched the temple, where his hand slowed. "Huh," he said, then pushed harder.

"Whoa," Lorne said when Daniel's hand stopped again with his hand buried in the stone. Grinning, Daniel yanked his hand back out, almost expecting to hear a squelching sound as he did, and then did it again.

"You can spend hours doing that," Nick told him in a tone that said he was speaking from experience.

"It feels odd," Daniel said as he touched the pyramid's wall again. "Evan, here, try it."

"I'm good, thanks," Lorne said. "And, uh...can I make a suggestion?"

Nick turned around and looked up imperiously at Lorne. "Yes?"

"Lieutenants Devon and Stemler back there are working on taking every physical measurement possible; maybe we should stick to..." He waved a hand toward the temple and at the idol lying on the ground. "That stuff."

"You're right," Daniel said.

"Well," Nick said, "how long will you stay?"

"We still have almost nineteen hours," Lorne said. "Eighteen, if we include the time we'll need to get back to the 'gate."

"Nick...could I look around the city and maybe ask you a few questions?" Daniel said eagerly.

"Of course," Nick said. He stepped away from the main pyramid and sauntered leisurely through the gates to the ruined city, saying, "Ask me anything. I have all the time in the world. Will you be coming back?"

"Um...I don't know," Daniel had to admit. "The SGC won't think there's much of material value to us here, and if you're not coming back and we know you're safe, it might be hard to justify frequent missions here. It's a health hazard every time as it is."

"So this might be the last time we'll meet?"

Daniel nodded. "It could be."

Nick hesitated, then said, "Then...will you tell me about your mother?"

So Daniel joined Nick and spent the next eighteen hours talking to his grandfather about their shared past and the past of this world, without leaving any visible trace that they'd ever been there at all.

XXXXX

**_30 May 2001; Embarkation Room, SGC; 0800 hrs_ **

When they stepped out onto the ramp in the SGC, it seemed clear from the level of activity that SG-11 had returned to base directly on the heels of some other team. In fact, there was no mistaking SG-1 standing on the floor of the room with Dr. Lee and another scientist Daniel didn't recognize, as well as someone who had to be a new recruit, although he didn't remember having seen her before.

Jack turned and saw him first and said, "Now, if _Daniel_ had been one of the researchers setting up that moon-station, things might've been different."

"What?" Daniel said, confused.

"Of course," Jack added, in the tone that meant he was currently irritated with the universe in general, "Daniel would've tried to talk to the damn bugs, and then we'd be establishing diplomatic relations with them."

"Bugs?" Daniel repeated blankly. "Why do we want diplomatic relations with bugs?"

"They were actually some kind of energy-based life form," Sam said.

"You've talked to energy-based life forms before," Jack told Daniel.

"Mr. Jackson?" an airman prompted, and Daniel turned away from the confusing conversation to hand over his sidearm and leave his pack for decontamination. By the time the Geiger counter had declared them all safe to be examined, SG-1, with the new woman and two scientists, had already disappeared.

Edwards shook his head and made his way to General Hammond to give him their report. "We gave Dr. Ballard our address and a radiolabeled box in case he ever needs or wants to contact us, but he seems pretty set on staying there, sir, and we don't exactly have a way to drag him away."

"In this case," the general said, "it might be best to let him stay there. He's relatively unconnected on Earth, and if he prefers to stay there there, I can deal with the details of his disappearance."

He still looked indecisive, though, so Daniel put in, "We've brought a lot of information back, sir, about the phasing technology _and_ the people who used to and still do live there. There's really no harm in letting Nick stay."

"All right," the general finally said. "Head to the infirmary, then."

Lorne caught up with him just as he made it out of the 'gate room. Keeping his voice low, he asked briskly, "You're good, right? I heard the--back there, with Nick."

"Yeah," Daniel said honestly, giving the captain a quick smile. "It's fine. Thanks."

Stemler and Devon were still delayed dropping off bits of equipment with the right people before changing out of their gear, and Edwards and Lorne went along to keep them company, so Daniel arrived at the infirmary first and wandered over to see what Jack was so pissed off about today.

"Hello," he said, and then saw reddened marks on Jack's arms that looked like they might possibly be from large, fire-breathing mosquitoes. " _Yi shay!_ What happened to you?" He turned to either side to check that Teal'c and Sam were relatively unhurt, noting peripherally that the new girl and the two scientists seemed all right, before turning back to Jack. "What did you do?"

Jack's eyebrows shot up. "Excuse me? What did I _do_?"

"Is this what you meant by bugs?" Daniel said, leaning close to see the marks on Jack's skin.

"They were not corporeal," Teal'c said.

"I know the feeling," Daniel said. The new girl was looking at him oddly, so he added, "Hi. I thought I knew all field personnel, but..."

"Oh," Sam said, hopping off her gurney and walking toward them. "Daniel, this is Cadet Jennifer Hailey. Cadet, Mr. Jackson is the other member of our team."

Daniel shook the offered hand. "Cadet?" he echoed.

"She's an astrophysics student at the Academy," Sam told him. "Let's just say I think we could use someone like her in the future. This was a visit for her to see our facility."

"Nice to meet you," Hailey said dubiously.

"So what happened?" Daniel said, looking back at Jack's scowl. "You met flesh-eating bugs?"

"Energy bugs," Jack said sourly as he watched Janet check over Teal'c. "Shocking, zapping, fireflies that you can't swat or kill."

"Huh," Daniel said. "Why were they attacking you?"

"Oh, don't get us started," Sam said quickly. Hailey opened her mouth to speak. Sam gave her a look. Hailey shut her mouth.

"Did you attack them or...trespass on their property or something?" Daniel said, thinking that he would have very little sympathy if someone had started a war with fireflies and got stung for it.

"That was my first guess, too," Sam said. With a glance at Hailey, she added, "But we had a couple of theories, any of which could potentially be correct."

"But someone _did_ do something to antagonize them," Daniel clarified, turning to Jack.

"It wasn't me!" Jack said, glaring at the two scientists in the room. "Why do you automatically assume it was me?"

Daniel glanced at Teal'c for confirmation. In answer, Teal'c gave the scientist whose name he couldn't remember a disgruntled, sideways look. "Okay," Daniel said to Jack. "Sorry. I shouldn't have assumed." Still, Jack was very grumpy and not fatally injured, so Daniel felt obligated to say very seriously, "You see what happens when you go on a mission without me?"

Sam didn't quite manage to smother a laugh. Jack glared.

"I'm healthy and you're covered in welts," Daniel continued. "Last time, you all got your memory replaced and I had to go rescue you. The evidence speaks for itself. You need to stop getting yourself into trouble, Jack."

" _I_ need to stop getting into trouble?" Jack said incredulously. "You really want to talk about past evidence?" He held up his fist and stuck out a thumb as if to start listing off events.

"Never mind," Daniel said quickly.

"Hey," Sam said, nudging him with an elbow. "So what about you? Did you find Nick?"

"Yeah, uh...we talked," Daniel said, folding his arms. "Quite a bit, actually. He's staying with Quetzalcoatl, though. He says he's barely been able to see two of the ancient cities in depth, much less other ones all over the planet. He's really happy there."

Jack frowned. "He's not coming back? I thought you were going to tell him about the whole long-lost grandson thing."

"I did," Daniel said. Sam took on the expression people wore while delivering condolences. "No, well, I didn't expect him to come back just for that. He's happy on '377. And we had a good twenty straight hours of talking about, uh, whistled variants of Nahuatl and the significance of each visible element in the architecture of Aztec pyramids. And other...stuff."

The clomping of boots announced SG-11's arrival in the infirmary. "Baggage on every planet, huh, Daniel?" Lorne said from behind Edwards.

"I made sure not to leave any bags there," Daniel assured him, mostly to make him chuckle.

"Your turn," Janet said, stepping in front of Daniel and standing with her hands on her hips until he moved toward a gurney. "SG-1, Dr. Lee, Dr. Hamilton, and Cadet Hailey, you're all free to go. Not you, Daniel," she added sharply when he tried to use the umbrella of 'SG-1' to escape. "I don't care what the safety assessment said; five minutes of being bombarded with muon radiation is still unhealthy."

"Muon--?" Hailey repeated, looking interested, but Sam steered her firmly toward the exit. Janet glared at Daniel. Daniel sat obediently on a gurney.

XXXXX

**_30 May 2001; Nyan's Office, SGC; 0930 hrs_ **

"Nyan, I think these are yours--Rick must have dropped them on my desk by accident," Daniel said once he'd had a chance to shower and glance at his desk. He shuffled through the misplaced papers again as he wandered into the office next door to hand them back. "This is a lot of tests you're taking."

"I'm going to apply to a school next year," Nyan said, looking excited and apprehensive. He hooked his foot around a chair and pulled it out in invitation. "The SGC is filling in some of my record, but I still need to take a few examinations to prove my ability."

"Oh," Daniel said, then handed over the forms in his hand and took the offered seat. "That...that's great. I didn't realize...well, you've been here almost a year now, haven't you."

"Dr. Jordan has offered me advice," Nyan said, nodding toward his computer. "I spoke to him when he came last time, and we have been writing to each other. It's very helpful."

Strange that he should feel ambivalent about that. He wanted Nyan to be able to do whatever the man chose, and Dr. Jordan was, if nothing else, a highly regarded teacher and academician. "Really," Daniel said, trying to hide the pang he felt saying it. "Well, good. I'm glad someone's... Good."

Nyan grinned at him, then said, "Daniel, if I'm going to a school...do you think you will also--"

"No," Daniel said.

Nyan looked surprised at the quick answer.

"I mean...not now," Daniel amended. "Leaving my team to go to school isn't a possibility. For now."

"They would let you," Nyan protested. "I'm certain they would."

"I know," Daniel said. "This is the path _I've_ chosen, myself. Maybe in the future. I don't know."

"There's value in learning just for the fact that you like it. You know that, right?" Nyan said earnestly. "Not everything has to be about saving someone's life."

"I know," Daniel repeated. "I don't actually spend that much time saving people's lives."

Nyan looked like he wanted to say something in answer to that, then dropped it. "Okay," he conceded. As much as each of them had been trying to fill part of Robert's void, for the SGC and for each other, neither was Robert. "Anyway, where...oh, you went to the crystal skull planet! Did you learn anything? Did you find Nicolas Ballard?"

"Um...yeah," Daniel said. "Yeah, I found him and learned a lot. It's amazing--you have to see the pyramids, Nyan. The main one is...like nothing we've ever seen. And then there are entire _cities_ , and I just checked and the camera captured _all_ of it, even the parts in a different phase..."

"I want to see," Nyan said eagerly. "Do you have the footage with you now?"

"I'll go get it," he said, grinning back and deciding that he could like this path just fine if it sometimes led him to these things, too. Maybe Nyan would make a name for himself among the Tau'ri and Daniel could visit him sometimes, or maybe things would change and he could take a new path then, but for now, Daniel's place was here. "You'll see. It's incredible."


	24. Points of View

**_25 June 2001; Embarkation Room, SGC; 0900 hrs_ **

The thing with having the DHD was that they'd all gotten used to casually touching it whenever they needed to dial the 'gate. This was not normally a bad thing, unless something on the other side started sending EM pulses back at them and trying to fry their DHD.

The _good_ thing was that, since EM pulses tended to do funny things to their electrical systems and computer overrides, using the DHD as the 'gate's power source meant they only had to pull the plug to shut down a wormhole. After the thing with Bauer, when Teal'c and Martouf had had to cut the power (literally), they'd managed to find a (relatively) safe way to disconnect the DHD manually via a panel next to it.

Unfortunately, Jack hadn't been paying attention when Carter had explained it.

Fortunately, he had people who _did_ listen to that kind of thing, and Teal'c entered the 'gate room to push Jack away before he could try the wire-cutting thing again, while Daniel flipped one of the levers on the wall.

Unfortunately, Daniel wasn't so good with the electrical systems, either, and probably couldn't tell one switch from another, so he took the more expedient route of shutting off all other power along with the DHD, leaving them plunged into darkness.

A few seconds later, the Stargate stayed off, and the emergency lights came back on.

"Okay," Jack said, then turned and ran toward the control room, Daniel and Teal'c behind him. "Okay?" he repeated.

"Yes, sir," Carter said. "Thanks for turning off the rest of the power, too, guys. The computers in here were being fried."

"Yes," Jack said, glancing at an embarrassed-looking Daniel. "It was on purpose."

"We should be able to turn everything back on in a minute," she added.

There was an airman bent over Sergeant Harriman on the floor. "Dr. Fraiser's on her way," General Hammond said.

"Carter, you okay?" Jack said, trying to see the hand she was cradling by the dim emergency lights.

"Yes, sir," she said distractedly. "I wish I could explain what happened, but until the equipment's back up--"

"So...you're as much in the dark as the rest of us," Jack said.

No one else seemed to appreciate his humor. The lights flipped back on.

...x...

By the time they figured out what it was...

Actually, as far as Jack could decipher from Daniel and Carter's babbling, they hadn't figured it out yet. "A lot of our systems are burnt out," Carter said, sounding frustrated, "including the best diagnostic tools we've got. With the quarantine in place, we can't access equipment that could tell us what we're dealing with."

"But it has accessed information about us?" Teal'c said grimly.

"It's hard to know exactly what it was doing," she said, "but it branched out through very specific areas before power was cut off--it went through network and language software and databases, and then systems and applications software."

"Learning to read, to listen, to talk," Daniel said optimistically. "Whatever this is could be trying to communicate with us."

"And figure out everything in our computers," Jack pointed out. "Which, by the way, got fried and started to fry a couple of people in the process."

"That's true, sir," Carter agreed. "But it's possible it really _was_ just trying to establish peaceful communication, and our hardware just wasn't advanced enough to handle it. We simply have no way of knowing yet. We're still in the process of running scans and purging the mainframe."

"Is this some kind of Ancient technology?" Hammond asked.

Daniel shook his head. "So far, Ancient planets and technologies we've seen seem to be meant for use by humans or someone compatible with humans. P9C-372 showed structures that don't match anything that anyone recognizes from ancient Earth or off-world. My opinion, sir, is that whoever or whatever inhabits that planet arrived after the Ancients left. They're completely alien to us."

"And that is why you believe it attempted to communicate with us through our computer systems," Teal'c said.

"Well," Carter said, "we can't expect other species or even other cultures to have the same methods of communication as we have. Electrical signals are probably more familiar to this...race than speech would be."

"Okay," Jack said, holding up a hand, "why are we assuming it was communicating and not trying to kill us?"

Daniel and Carter glanced at each other, and then Daniel offered, "Innocent until proven guilty?"

"That's not good enough right now, Mr. Jackson, not when this much damage has been done to our base," Hammond said.

"We sent a probe to their world first, sir. It's possible that they might have done the same."

Unmoved, Hammond said, "Maybe. But until we know for certain that there will be no repercussions from this incident, this mountain will be kept locked down, operations will not resume, and no one will open that 'gate again, _especially_ not to P9C-372."

"So now it's a probe," Jack said. "It's probing us."

"It could be," Daniel said.

"I don't like being probed," Jack said.

Daniel frowned at him. "Well, sir," Carter finally said, "maybe this other thing didn't like being...probed, either. I was able to isolate a waveform that could well have been meant as something _like_ a probe."

"Is that what this is?" Dr. Fraiser spoke up, pointing to an image in front of her.

"That's right," Carter said. "It's time-magnified and scaled for detail, but those are the high-frequency oscillations we received."

"It looks like high-amplitude tracings of an EEG," she said.

"E-E-G?" Daniel repeated.

"Electroencephalogram," Fraiser explained. "The electrical signals we get from the brain. The frequency isn't what I'd expect from a human brain, of course, but it could fit a similar pattern. The point is that this entity, whatever it is, seems to have some sort of sentience or advanced enough programming to--"

The lights died.

"I thought we fixed that," Jack said.

The projector turned on.

"I thought Siler fixed _that_ ," Daniel said.

The camera turned on, swiveled around, and fixed on them.

"Okay," Carter said, staring, " _that's_ not us."

"I believe it is, Major Carter," Teal'c said, because a live image of them was appearing on the screen.

Jack looked up at the camera, not quite believing yet that this wasn't a weird joke of some kind, and stood up. The camera followed him. He checked the screen--okay, it _was_ following them in real time. "It's watching us," he said, moving warily toward the screen to look directly into the camera.

The camera focused on Jack for a moment, and his image loomed disturbingly large on the screen.

"Well, it's clearly trying to communicate _something_ ," Daniel said helpfully.

The screen flashed to black, and then began scanning through--

"Are those personnel records?" Hammond said.

It stopped on Jack's file. "Apparently, sir," Jack said, then told the thing in the camera, "Yeah, that's me."

Just as quickly, the camera turned away from him to fix on Carter, and then Daniel, and then Teal'c, rifling through the computer's system to bring up each file. "It's learning," Daniel said, sounding caught between fascination and unease. "About us--who we are, what we do..."

Hammond tore his eyes away from the screen and turned to Carter. "Put a stop to it, Major," he ordered, sounding much closer to uneasiness than interest of any sort.

"Sir," Daniel started, "we don't even know what its intentions are--"

"Mr. Jackson, I can't allow an alien technology into our computer systems," Hammond said sternly, "whatever its intentions."

...x...

So then, they isolated the whatever-it-was in the MALP room. That was the easy part.

Jack wanted to blow it up, and Teal'c got his zat ready, but Daniel wanted to talk to it and Carter agreed. Before Jack could snip its power away, she decided to try the _'we're peaceful explorers'_ thing by typing into the computer.

Jack should have realized sooner. Friendly aliens didn't just happen to come through computers to say 'hi.' It was a trap.

"We don't know it was a trap," Daniel said later in a low voice as they stood waiting outside the infirmary.

"Carter's lying half-dead in there," Jack snapped, jabbing a finger toward the infirmary door, where Dr. Fraiser was setting up a speech synthesizer so they could talk to it again and Martouf was sitting by her bed. "It lured her to the computer and then tried to take over her body."

"Well, what did _we_ do?" Daniel returned. "We lured it into a feeling of safety and distracted it by talking to it, and then you tried to kill it! You don't think it saw you getting ready to cut its power, just as we sent Sam to talk to it?"

"I didn't have a choice!" Jack exclaimed. "This thing is dangerous--"

"And so are we! Maybe it didn't think it had a choice."

"Carter's in a coma," he hissed. "That's not an accident. It was watching us the entire time."

Daniel narrowed his eyes. "You're saying it knew Sam and I wanted to talk to it."

"Yeah," Jack said.

"And the device in the MALP room was created as a delivery system in order to invade the body of Major Carter," Teal'c added.

Daniel's chin rose, but Jack nodded, glad someone was on the same page as him. "Yes."

"So, basically," Daniel said, his tone far too mild while his eyes glared into Jack's, "what you're saying is that if we'd listened to you in the first place and blown it up"--Jack started to answer--"No, seriously," Daniel snapped. "I'm asking: is that what you're saying?"

Taking up the baton, Teal'c said, "If we had destroyed the entity, Daniel Jackson, Major Carter would not have been adversely affected."

"Because that's what we do, right?" Daniel said. "We blow things up when we don't understand them. I mean, that's almost how this program was started in the first place, yes?"

"Don't make this about Abydos, Daniel," Jack said angrily.

"It's about whether or not we should try to communicate with unknown, sentient entities before trying to destroy them," Daniel retorted, coiling tight in anger. "Your laws say we assume innocence until we've proven guilt."

"Something took over one of my people and refuses to leave. That's _guilty_."

"But we didn't know that before, and it might not have happened if--"

"Perhaps," Teal'c interrupted. "And yet, all that matters is what has now occurred, not what might have been."

Daniel looked incredulous. "Of course it matters what we do when faced with unusual circumstances with incomplete intelligence!"

"What matters," Jack said, "is that a member of our team is being held hostage by an alien in her own body, and we need a way to get it _out_."

"Look," Daniel said, "I know your first instinct is to protect--both of you--and I understand that, but if you're saying we should have just blown it up because we didn't understand it, then we might as well stop trying to communicate with anyone anymore."

Jack gritted his teeth, glancing at the infirmary and hoping for another miracle to save his second-in-command. "I don't care right now what we did or didn't do," he said. "At this moment-- _right now_ \--Sam could die. Do you get that?"

Daniel somehow wound himself even tighter. "I know that," he said, his voice steady while his fists clenched tight at his sides. "But she wasn't wrong to take that risk."

The worst part was that Jack knew he was more likely to kill Carter than the entity was. As far as he was concerned, the entity was as parasitical as the Goa'uld, and successful parasites invaded to survive, not to destroy their host, but it was wrong about whether or not they'd let it live in her. It was Jack--and anyone else at the SGC with a brain and a gun--who was in danger of pulling the trigger. Part of him hoped he wouldn't be the one to have to do it. Another part knew it was his responsibility and hoped no one else would have to do it.

...x...

In the end, the entity in Carter refused to leave and Fraiser determined it was going to grow and grow until it rewrote her mind, if that hadn't happened already. With nothing left to try, Jack held a zat in his hand and followed Daniel in to talk to it.

Teal'c, Martouf, Hammond, and Fraiser all watched from the observation room. Daniel dawdled at the beside for a long moment, studying the entity in Carter as the entity studied him through Carter's eyes. Jack resisted the urge to tell him to hurry the hell up.

Finally, he cleared his throat and said, "Hello. My name is Daniel."

Carter's hand rose and landed on the keyboard connected to the speech synthesizer and began to type, her eyes never leaving Daniel's face as it did so. "I am aware," the entity said.

Daniel seemed surprised for a second, then said, "That's right. You read our files."

"Yes."

"Then you know our purpose here," Daniel said. "You know that our job is to explore, and that my job specifically is to facilitate communication between ourselves and other peoples."

The entity tilted Carter's head and continued staring at him. "Yourselves wish to terminate."

_Yes_ , Jack thought emphatically. "No," Daniel said, shaking. "Our...selves... _We_ wish to protect ourselves and to learn about you. Perhaps you interpreted it as aggression, but the person whose body you took--Sam... She only wanted to talk to you."

"I am aware," the entity repeated. "For this reason, this one was utilized."

"Okay," Daniel said, looking frustrated, and then he stopped and visibly made an effort to keep calm. "You say that we wish to terminate, but isn't that what you're doing to Sam? If you leave her mind, you and she can both live. There are other...vessels for you to inhabit without destroying a life like you're doing now."

"Leaving this mind would cause termination," the entity said.

"You left that device in the MALP room," Daniel pointed out. "Go back there."

But the entity was unmoved. "I have already grown beyond its capacity," it said.

Daniel started to turn around toward the observation window, then looked back at Carter. "Why did you do this?" he demanded. "Why did you come here if you were going to take Sam's--"

"You attacked," the entity said.

"We..." Daniel started, looking confused, then realized. "No. We sent a probe. It was a...an initiation of contact, to see if the planet was safe for us to--"

"Radio energy was emitted from your probe," the entity interrupted. "Contagion. Much damage was caused within. It spread before we knew it was poison."

"You're saying...your world was damaged by radio waves from one of our probes," Daniel said, glancing uncertainly at Jack. Jack felt his grip tighten on the zat gun and forcibly loosened it, focusing carefully on the fact that Carter was in a hospital bed. "We didn't mean to hurt you. You know our protocol, so you must know that."

The entity opened cocked Carter's head to one side. "Yet it is done."

Daniel took a moment to pull his thinking cap back on and said, calmly, "So you came here to...what? If you knew our technology was dangerous to you, then--"

"To preserve my world," the entity said, "by destroying you."

Unable to keep quiet anymore, Jack pointed out, "Well, that's not going to happen."

"If I had been able to complete transmission," the entity said, "you would have been destroyed. My world would have been preserved."

Jack narrowed his eyes, thinking quickly as Daniel said, "Well, in a way, you succeeded. We won't go back there. Your world can repair the damage we did, and we won't send any more probes through."

"Yes, we will," Jack said.

Daniel didn't turn as he said, "Jack?"

"We'll send dozens of them, one after another," Jack said, completely serious. He'd send them himself. "I don't care what it does to you. You've read my file--you know I'd do it."

"No," the entity said.

"Leave her," Jack said. He raised his zat. "Now."

"Jack," Daniel said again, more insistently.

"Daniel," Jack said, not looking away from Carter's face. "We're going to do this my way. General?"

Through the speaker, Hammond leaned forward into the microphone and said, _"You're damned right we'll do it."_

"If you want to preserve your world," Jack repeated, "leave Major Carter right now."

Carter's hand trembled on the keyboard. The entity swiveled her head from Jack, to Daniel, to Hammond, and back, then yanked the leads from her head and leapt out of bed.

And then it all went to hell.

...x...

Teal'c and Daniel left at some point after Jack killed Carter with a zat.

He wasn't sure exactly when or why or where, or who'd dragged whom away, or where Martouf had disappeared to, but Jack was the only one left in the infirmary when Janet Fraiser finished hooking Carter up to the life support systems and scanning her. He thought he should talk to Daniel, because Sam was different from the countless other people they'd lost in the last months and years and none of them was ready to deal with it, then chickened out and decided Teal'c would be a better person than Jack to be around right now.

"...don't know if she ever told you, Colonel, but Sam made a living will," Fraiser was saying. Jack didn't look away from Carter. "No extraordinary means."

"Yeah, she told me," Jack said. Of course she had. With the things they faced, they all knew each other's wishes, some of them written into their medical record and some of them only spoken occasionally and understood by all. That was the part the entity hadn't known; if it had, it would never have thought that Jack wouldn't be willing to kill Carter to kill it.

He heard footsteps near the door.

Jack looked up to see Daniel walk in with Teal'c behind him. Daniel opened his mouth as if to speak, then closed it.

"The entity appears to be isolated in the device in the MALP room," Teal'c said. "General Hammond has ordered it to be destroyed. The entity must not be allowed to spread further."

"Good," Jack said. He wanted the thing dead. Daniel started to speak again and then stopped again. Fraiser's heels clicked toward the two of them at the door, and Jack wasn't sure if she was explaining life support and living wills or trying to comfort or maybe grieve with them, but he didn't want to look away from Carter to find out. She'd be gone soon enough.

_"SG-1 to the MALP room immediately,"_ Hammond's voice suddenly announced.

Jack stood, almost grateful for the crisis, because he knew how to handle those and was not ready to handle pulling the plug on a teammate. Teal'c's zat was already in his hand again, and a snapped, "Jackson," was all it took to shake Daniel out of a fog and spur all three of them toward the MALP room.

When they arrived, Martouf and Siler were herding a handful of technicians away from the mainframe that was surrounded by explosives. Jack took a second to think that that would have been Carter in charge of this under better circumstances, then pushed that thought away and turned to the Tok'ra.

"It seems the entity has returned," Martouf said, pointing to where the device had begun powering on again by itself. With a hint of bitter satisfaction, he added, "I believe the best course of action now would be to destroy it entirely."

"All right," Jack said, unable to help a vicious bit of pleasure in the thought that they were going to get to terminate it, after all. "Let's blow it."

The screen turned on as Siler handed Martouf the detonator, and words began to appear.

"Wait!" Daniel cried, pushing Martouf's arm down with a hand. "Wait, wait, wait--look at that!"

_I AM HERE_ , the screen said. As Jack watched, the words began scrolling down the screen until it said _I AM HERE I AM HERE I AM HERE--_

"The entity," Teal'c said.

Daniel shook his head as Siler turned uncertainly to Jack, and already Jack could feel a spike of anger that, even now, Daniel was trying to defend the thing that had gotten Carter killed.

But...

"No," Daniel said excitedly, "it said it couldn't go back, it was too big. Jack, that's _Sam_."

Jack felt his fists try to clench. "Daniel, I shot her twice," he said, hating the reminder, hating the thread of hope trying to sneak in, hating the look Daniel would wear when they found out for sure they'd been wrong and Carter was dead for good.

Still going, Daniel said, "But it was...the...the thing." He spread his arms out the way the entity had spread Carter's arms just before Jack had shot her. "We assumed it was transferring itself out of her body, but it wasn't, because it couldn't fit, so it was transferring Sam's consciousness out of her body instead, and when you shot her, you killed it, but she's still alive and she's in _there_ \--"

"Why?" Jack said, wanting to believe him but refusing to yield until he had a good reason and knew it wouldn't come crashing down later. "Why would it do that?"

"Because you threatened to destroy its world, Jack! It knew it had to save Sam to preserve its world, so it sacrificed itself and let her live."

_I AM HERE_ , the screen said.

"It's Sam," Daniel repeated, not pleading and not desperate, but certain.

Jack turned to the wall and picked up the nearest phone. "Get me Hammond," he said.

XXXXX

**_27 June 2001; Infirmary, SGC; 1700 hrs_ **

It took almost a day after being transferred back into her body for Carter to be alert enough for any sort of meaningful conversation. She was alive, though, which was what counted.

Teal'c was already in the infirmary with her when Jack stepped in. "How is she?' he said, looking at Carter sleeping on the bed.

With a smile, Teal'c said, "She was awake for some time and seemed well. Dr. Fraiser says that she will recover fully."

Before Jack could say anything else, Carter shifted slightly and said sleepily, "'m still here."

Jack couldn't quite manage to hold back a smile as she pulled her eyes back open. "Hey," he said, sticking his hands deep into his pockets. "How're you feeling?"

She blinked at him, then smiled back. "Colonel," she said. She pushed herself into a sitting position and raked her hair into semi-neatness. "I'm fine, sir."

"Uh-huh," Jack said, not believing that a bit. "That must be why ol' Doc Fraiser's not letting you leave yet, huh?"

"Well, you know Janet, sir," she said self-consciously.

Nodding, Jack agreed, "Yeah. She's a good doctor."

Carter made a face but didn't argue. Dr. Fraiser said she was lucky enough not to have been fried by all the electricity that had been flowing through her. Personally, Jack was counting it lucky that she was alive at all. "Have you seen Daniel, sir?" she asked hopefully.

"Why--hoping he'll bring you your computer?" Jack said, because he wasn't bring it to her and he was pretty sure Teal'c hadn't, either.

"Maybe a little," she admitted.

"He's meeting someone on the surface," Jack explained. "He'll be right back."

Just then, Daniel stuck his head around the door and said, "Okay, she's--hi! Sam." Carter raised a hand and waved. Daniel glanced at Jack, who nodded, and then said, "I have someone here who wants to see you."

Carter looked confused for a moment but then lit up when Cassandra Fraiser stepped cautiously into the infirmary. "Cassandra! What are you doing here?"

Grinning, Cassie made her way to the bed for a hug, saying, "You're not happy to see me? They said I could, as long as I'm 'properly escorted'... Not like I've never been down here, anyway."

Janet appeared in the door from her office upon hearing her daughter's voice and joined them while Jack and Teal'c gave Cassie her obligatory hugs and then backed away to make room for the women.

Daniel looked a little bemused by Cassie's bedside chatter and chose to hang back with Jack and Teal'c. When he didn't say anything for a while, Jack gestured them out and said, "Something wrong?"

Following Jack into the hallway, Daniel said, "I'm just impressed by how Cassandra manages not ask what happened."

"She's probably used to it by now, between her mom and us," Jack said. He, for one, was hoping she would jump right over the rebellious teenager stage.

Daniel nodded but looked down and stepped back a little. "What?" Jack said warily.

"I've been thinking about the entity..." Daniel started.

"Let's not," Jack said, hoping to cut this off before it blew up into something worse, because it would, without a doubt.

Sure enough, Daniel pressed on and said, "Just think about it, though--haven't we been in situations like that before, but on the entity's side?"

"No," Jack said, because he'd never invaded another person's body as an electrical signal and downloaded the other person into a computer mainframe.

"Not the exact details, obviously," Daniel said, scowling. "But imagine if our iris had been down and someone had sent a probe through to us that happened to be...radioactive, say. What would you do?"

"What are the chances of that?" Jack said.

Daniel stared at him, then said, "Actually, the entity reminded me a little of you." Before Jack could retort, he went on, "It didn't care what our intentions were or about our lives. All it cared about was that we'd hurt it and its world, and it had to stop us from doing more damage."

Jack pulled them a little farther from the infirmary and said angrily, "Carter might not have been awake while that thing was inside her, but _you_ were. You heard what it said--"

"That it was trying to stop us from finishing the...the...genocide we'd started on its planet?"

"We stopped," Jack said, more frustrated now, "and it was still willing to let Carter die. We got it to stop using her body as its vehicle--and how is that not like the Goa'uld?"

"The Goa'uld don't take hosts out of self-defense," Daniel said. "They take slaves who weren't hurting them to begin with, and then they don't offer to sit back and share information in exchange for survival; they seek more power by hurting more people."

"You just don't want to think you were the advocate for someone like the Goa'uld," Jack accused.

Daniel looked stung, but he quickly slapped his anti-Goa'uld blinders back into place and said, "Well, if we take the parasitism out and consider the damage they cause instead, then I'd have to say _we_ acted a bit like tyrants or terrorists this time, too."

Jack threw up a hand. "We'll never go back to that planet now. All of their _people_ are back to being safe. Misunderstanding solved. What more do you want?"

"That's not the point," Daniel said.

"How is that not the point?" Jack said exasperatedly. With some people, he argued about what the answers were. With Daniel, they had to bicker about the question, too.

"We messed up," Daniel said. "And then we won by threatening to _kill_ an _entire planet_ when all the entity wanted in the first place was to stop us from destroying its home. The response to...to an unknown quantity should _not_ be to destroy it!"

"But now their world is safe from us and ours is safe from them," Jack returned. "And Carter's alive."

"So the end justifies the means."

"Sometimes, yes, it does!" Jack said firmly.

Daniel folded his arms.

"What would you have done?" Jack said, not wanting to continue the argument but not satisfied with the look Daniel was giving him. "Let it stay inside Carter?"

"Do you think I wanted Sam to die?" Daniel said too evenly to be anything but absolutely furious.

"Gentlemen," General Hammond's voice said, making them both turn around to see him in the hallway, watching them. "I think we should put this behind us."

Jack nodded, but Daniel swallowed and said, "Sir, all due res--"

"I know, Mr. Jackson," Hammond interrupted. "I agree that mistakes were made because of several misunderstandings, but we had to deal with the situation at hand. Teal'c ensured that the security of the base was not compromised, even by Major Carter. Colonel O'Neill's threat saved Major Carter's body from the entity. Your quick thinking saved Major Carter's mind."

Jack tried not to shudder at the thought that he'd given the order that had almost gotten Carter's mind blown up.

When no one else spoke, Hammond added, "I know better than to try to micromanage how this team is run, but I'd rather you didn't spend time arguing about the reason your team runs at all."

"Yes, sir," Daniel muttered.

"Yes, sir," Jack repeated.

Hammond checked his watch. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to say 'hello' to Cassandra. If you're going to continue--far be it from me to make the two of you stop fighting--then leave it outside the infirmary."

"Sir--" Daniel said before the general could leave.

"What is it?"

"When you said you'd send more MALPs to their planet even after we knew what it would have done to them, was that a bluff?" His expression said he was hoping the answer was 'yes.'

"It would have depended on what the entity's response was," Hammond said.

"Then...it _was_ a bluff," Daniel said.

"Mr. Jackson," Hammond said bluntly, "there _are_ scenarios in which I would have authorized that action to be taken. I'm very glad none of them happened."

Daniel pressed his lips together as the general entered the infirmary to a renewed round of happy greetings and a call of _Uncle George!_

"So," Jack said.

"I'm sorry it didn't work like we hoped," Daniel said, but there was still something under the words that Jack suspected he'd be hearing more clearly if the general hadn't just ordered them to play nice. "But not that we thought it was an option that had to be explored."

"We don't just blow things up for no reason," Jack said. Daniel looked like he disagreed, and Jack supposed he had a right to: he knew the story of Abydos and the nuclear warhead, and just before the SGC had started up the second time in 1997, it had almost happened again and killed thousands of his people--including himself and his family--for a misunderstanding. "We learned our lesson from Abydos," he added.

Finally, Daniel nodded very slightly, and Jack suspected that _had_ been part of his hang-up, if not the whole thing. They were never going to agree on this completely, and that was supremely annoying, but okay. "You were protecting the base," Daniel acknowledged. "And Sam."

Jack took a breath and forced himself into a jauntier mood. "Between us, I think we've got most of the bases covered. Come on--I want to catch up with Cassie, too." Daniel still didn't look happy as they returned to the infirmary, but at least he wasn't arguing anymore, which Jack thought was the best he was going to get.

...x...

"You don't have to stay with me, sir," Carter said later that night when she saw the clock, looking embarrassed.

Shrugging casually, Jack said, "Nah. I just find it hilarious to watch those guys."

Carter followed his gaze to where Cassie, Daniel, and Teal'c were gathered in a corner of the infirmary, trying to make some vaguely normal conversation that made some kind of sense between the three of them. "Now _that_ must be an interesting conversation," she agreed.

"They were talking about pineapples, last I checked," he said.

"Pineapples, sir?" she repeated.

"Something about how they don't really look like pines or apples," Jack said, shrugging. "I don't know. You know how they are. So..." he said, turning back to things that made more sense, like aliens possessing his teammates, "you really don't remember anything about what happened? Dr. Fraiser said your brainwaves weren't...waving."

She hesitated. "I got glimpses," she admitted. "Flashes. To be honest, it was a little bit like being taken by Jolinar, at least in the beginning before I learned to watch what was going on. But besides that...I don't remember much after I first tried to talk to it and before it transferred me into the mainframe."

Jack nodded. They'd let her body be taken over twice now, and if Jolinar hadn't exactly been their fault, they'd actually sent her into this one. "You okay?" he said.

"I'm okay, sir," she assured him. "Ironically, Jolinar was a little more disturbing--we shared minds that time and I was awake more."

As far as Jack was concerned, both times had been pretty damned disturbing.

"Janet says you shot me," she added.

"Ah...yeah," Jack admitted. "Sam, look--"

"Obviously, it was the right thing to do at that point, sir," she said quickly. "I would have been...well, eventually overwritten, and if it had gotten into the base... Thank you."

"I've got your back," Jack said quietly, more grateful for the absolution than he wanted to admit.

"Yes, sir," she answered with a nod.

"But we locked out that address."

"Thank God," she said with a slightly horrified laugh. "Um...sir--"

"Yeah," Jack said.

"When's our next mission?"

"Not in the next few days. Probably not another week or so, at least. They're still trying to fix all the computers around base. You that eager to get out?"

She shrugged. "I hate being stuck in the infirmary," she admitted.

"Well, Janet says you're going to have to put up with being stuck until tomorrow, at least," he said. "I'm sure you can make a nuisance of yourself and get sprung by then."

She smiled and looked like she was already plotting how best to annoy the doctors so much that they kicked her out. "Sir, I think I remember seeing you, uh...sitting with me," she said, then gestured toward her head with a still-burned and bandaged hand. "While the entity was in here. You must be tired--you guys don't have to stay with me the whole time I'm in here."

Jack shrugged, finding it easier to treat it casually now there was no danger of her dying. "I'll leave soon. Dr. Fraiser's here through the night, so I was going to drive Cassie home later. I don't think Daniel really wants to go home tonight, though, so you'd better tell him and Teal'c not to hover while you're sleeping, or they probably will. I'll be back."

"You really don't have to," she said again.

"Yeah, well," Jack said, waving once as he went to collect Cassie. "Take it easy."

XXXXX

**_8 July 2001; O'Neill/Jackson Residence; 0600 hrs_ **

One morning a week later, when Carter had fully recovered and SG-1 was almost ready to step back into the field, Jack tried to drag Daniel physically out of his bed.

"Whadoyouwan," Daniel mumbled, trying to burrow back under his sheets.

"Physical assessment," Jack said. "We gotta go."

Daniel stopped and squinted up at him. "What? Today? Really?"

"Really," Jack said. "Get up."

"I just had two days of tests with Janet," Daniel said, frowning and rubbing his eyes. "I turned down a research mission for that. That wasn't a dream, was it?"

"Nope," Jack said. "Today's _my_ physical assessment."

"You had yours at the same time that I had mine, Jack. Wait, it's Sunday and we're off duty for--"

"Get _up_ ," Jack repeated, and tugged at Daniel's leg until he slid halfway onto the floor. "Teal'c wants you in the gym at 0800."

"Oh," Daniel said, untangling himself. "The unofficial kind of physical assessment. But why--"

"Happy birthday," Jack interrupted. "I get you for a few hours at the shooting range this afternoon when Carter and Teal'c are done with you in the gym."

Daniel blinked. "Oh," he repeated, scrubbing vigorously at his face to wake himself up. "Um. Okay. I'm up."

"From now on," Jack said, waiting for him to collect himself and find his clothes, "if SG-1 gets called in for backup, that includes you. If we get assigned a mission that requires purely military action, that can include you, too, unless there's a specific reason it doesn't make sense. If we--"

"I get it," Daniel said. "If you fight, I fight with you."

Jack opened his mouth to argue, because that was simplistic, then stopped, because it was true. "Yeah," he said. "In the field, you're still less experienced, so if we need to split up duties, obviously I won't assign you to do something Teal'c or Carter would be better off doing--"

"Jack," Daniel interrupted. "We've done this before, more than we like to admit, and most of that by accident. It's just that I'm old enough that you don't have to feel guilty _sending_ me to do something that involves a gun. I understand how this works, unless you really want me to stop arguing with you or...or to play a different role on the team."

There was no way to argue that, either. Not much would change in practice, except maybe that they'd be with each other a little more than before. "Then nothing really changes on that end," Jack said. "I'll have more gray hairs, though."

"No offense, Jack," Daniel said, "but that's been happening anyway."

"Yeah," Jack said. He nodded. "Okay. Be ready to leave in half an hour."

"It's so early," Daniel said with a shirt halfway over his head. "I need coffee."

"Then you'd better hurry up," Jack said. "And make your bed."


	25. The Others

**_9 July 2001; Control Room, SGC; 1000 hrs_ **

Sam leaned over the console to see the screen, then straightened, looking out at the iris that was closed over the wormhole. "It says _Comtraya_ ," she said.

"What do you mean, 'it says _Comtraya_?'" Daniel said, not sure how a computer could say that or why it would do so. He was pretty sure he couldn't type things into his GDO.

Jack groaned aloud, pressing his fingers into his eyes. "It's like _shalom_ or _aloha_...that stuff."

"It was the greeting used by the artificial life form Harlan on P3X-989," Teal'c added.

"The one who made robotic duplicates of you," General Hammond said, looking at the three senior members of SG-1.

"Hey," Daniel said, interested, "maybe it's them. You know, you. The other you."

Jack stopped trying to gouge out his eyeballs and said, "No version of me would ever go around saying _Comtraya_."

Sam nodded in agreement. "It's more likely Harlan himself. Sir, I admit he was annoying, but he wasn't a serious threat."

Jack looked like he seriously disagreed but couldn't find a good counterargument. The general nodded. "Open the iris," he ordered. Jack glared at Sam, who shrugged apologetically.

As Daniel hurried down the steps after the general, eager to see the robot who was apparently so lifelike they couldn't even tell he wasn't a man, the iris opened and someone stepped through--

\--and looked nothing like what Daniel had been imagining. "Huh," he said aloud.

Harlan opened his eyes wide as he saw the security teams with their guns pointing at him. "Oh--oh!" he said, his voice surprisingly thin and unimposing. "I have no weapons."

"Stand down," General Hammond ordered.

"Thank you for opening the doorway device which you call ' _iris,_ '" Harlan added, looking quite excited at the idea of the doorway device.

"Just for the record," Jack added sourly, "I was opposed."

Daniel couldn't help feeling bad when Harlan's eager smile dropped off his face. "Welcome to Earth," the general said more diplomatically. "I'm General Hammond, leader of this facility."

Harlan clapped his hands together and grinned. " _Comtraya_! Yes, I have heard so much about you."

"What's wrong, Harlan?" Sam said.

Immediately, Harlan's smile disappeared again and his expression became worried. Daniel tried to examine Harlan surreptitiously to see if he could detect any sign that the man was a robot and failed. He tried to imagine a machine pretending to be worried and decided there was no reason to believe the robot _wasn't_ worried, or that there wasn't some program that made it--him--approach and perceive things the way that a worried person might, which was really the same thing, wasn't it?

"Oh, please, yes," Harlan said, turning from Sam to Teal'c to Jack. "It is a very big...e-emergency. Erm. You must help...you."

"Uh-oh," Daniel said.

Just as Harlan turned to him in surprise, the general said, "Let's take this upstairs," and gestured toward the briefing room.

As they made their way up, Harlan tapped Daniel on the shoulder and said, "Who are you?"

"Oh, um...I'm Daniel," Daniel said, holding out his hand. " _Comtraya_."

"Oh, yes, yes!" Harlan said, sticking out his hand in imitation and blinking at Daniel but not shaking his hand. "I have heard about Daniel as well. You are"--Harlan reached up to squeeze Daniel's arm experimentally--"bigger than they described."

"Um...yes, that...well, yeah," Daniel said, a little disoriented by Harlan's odd mannerisms but a little amused, too.

"All right, all right," Jack said impatiently, tugging Daniel along and making a face at Harlan. "Let's move it along, shall we?"

"We shall," Harlan agreed. He pulled a chair out from the table, then abandoned it to look out the window, staring to looking more nervous as he seemed to try to disappear into his robes. "It is your others. I told them not to go. I begged them. Going through the Stargate is dangerous--very, very dangerous. You told me all about the Goa'uld, you did. You must help, yes? No?"

"Harlan!" Jack barked.

"Yes?" Harlan said, turning around.

"Sit," Jack ordered.

"Yes," Harlan repeated, and shuffled his way into a chair.

"Now," Jack said slowly, as if talking to a small child whom he was trying to convince himself not to strangle, "from the beginning."

"The beginning, yes," Harlan said, nodding emphatically and visibly pulling himself together. "They were not happy; they could not stop being you. The portable power pack you invented..."

When he pointed to Sam, Daniel clarified, "The robot Sam?"

"Oh, it was ingenious," Harlan said excitedly. He started to pull open his robe. "I have one in my chest now--would you like to see it?"

"Yes," Sam said in interest, leaning in for a closer look.

"No!" Jack snapped. "You can show her later."

"What type of help do you require?" Teal'c said, cutting easily to the heart of the problem.

"Oh, not me," Harlan explained. "You. The others."

"What exactly has happened?" the general said.

Harlan shrugged. "Well, they have not returned."

"Returned from where?" Daniel said when Jack's face took on a familiar expression, the one that said he was trying to force himself not to shake someone in the hope that a full explanation would tumble loose.

"Away--they go away," Harlan said. He pointed through the window at the 'gate.

Sam raised her eyebrows. "Are you saying," she said, "that our robots are going through the Stargate on _missions_?"

"They have never stayed away for more than twenty-four hours," Harlan said anxiously as General Hammond scowled at Jack, who made a face as if to say it wasn't _his_ fault, sort of. "They have less than nine hours left."

...x...

Harlan ended up liking Daniel more than the rest of them. By the time they were done with their briefing, Daniel was staring to sympathize with Harlan more than the rest of them, too.

"But you must help them," Harlan said anxiously.

"General," Daniel added, "whether or not they were created with your authorization--"

"Or _our_ authorization," Jack said.

"--well, _they_ didn't have any choice, either," Daniel pointed out. "This is _yourselves_. We can't just leave them somewhere."

"We did once," Jack said.

"On a safe planet!"

"Daniel, they're _robots_ ," Jack said.

"Colonel O'Neill," the general said, "if you don't want to do this, I'm not going to make it an order."

Jack nodded. "Thank you, sir."

"But--" Daniel started.

"Daniel," Sam said.

"Then I shall just have to help myself," Harlan decided. He puffed himself up and pulled his robe around himself. All in all, he looked like he might be ready to fight a rabbit, but not much more.

Daniel scowled at Jack, then stood and turned to the general. "Request permission to join Harlan in the search, sir," he said.

"Oh, come on!" Jack burst out.

"Those are friends out there," Daniel snapped, and while it was confusing to think that while at the table with his team, it was true, too--those robots held the minds and personalities of the man who had pointed out stars to him, the woman who had given him a pen and a book when he'd been desperate for something familiar, and the man who had taught him about strength in every form. They were people he'd known years ago, and as confusing as he'd thought life back then, it seemed almost simple compared to their lives now. "I'm not leaving them."

"Unfortunately, Mr. Jackson," the general said, "while I understand your concern, I can't allow you to risk your life like that."

"I'm no longer under age restrictions," Daniel said.

"And if this were SG-1's mission, I'd let you go," the general said. Daniel glanced at the others in time to see Sam lower her eyes while Teal'c looked rather ambivalent. Jack's determined expression didn't quite waver, but it looked a bit more defensive. "But I won't order SG-1 into that situation. Your lives, not theirs, are my responsibility. As it stands...Harlan, we can send you anywhere you need to go. I'm sorry."

...x...

Using duty as a reason to go on a mission didn't work when Jack and the general didn't feel it was their duty. Guilt, however, worked quite well on all of them.

"Wait a minute," Sam said after Harlan started dialing the address on the DHD where the robotic SG-1 had gone. "That's P2X-729--Juna. We've been to this planet before."

Daniel didn't remember that one and leaned closer to see the address, hoping it would spark a memory. Just as he remembered that it was a mission SG-1 had undertaken while Daniel had been on Abydos with the recovering Skaara and Sha'uri, Teal'c said, "We did engage in battle with the Jaffa of Heru-ur and liberated the people of Juna."

"That's right," Sam agreed. "We told them to bury the 'gate after we were gone. Are you sure you've got the right address?" she said, turning to Harlan.

"I could run a diagnostic of my systems," Harlan said pragmatically, "but it might be quicker just to dial the address."

General Hammond nodded. "Proceed," he ordered.

Harlan drew himself as tall as he could and dialed again, this time activating the central crystal. Sure enough, the vortex shot out of the 'gate and the wormhole was firmly established.

"Well, it's not buried anymore," Daniel said, then added, "Obviously something's happened over there. Shouldn't we check it out?"

"It is possible another Goa'uld travelled to the planet by ship in order to reinstate command," Teal'c said.

"Why?" Jack asked. "There's nothing there--the mine's dried up, the people were skeptical enough to help us overthrow Heru-ur's Jaffa..."

"Possibly strategic military reasons," Teal'c said.

Sam stared at the wormhole. "We told them they'd be okay," she said, looking stricken, which was when Daniel knew the mission was just a probe away from being approved.

"Send a probe," the general conceded.

...x...

Daniel didn't notice at first that he was leaning forward to see Jack's--the robot Jack's--face on the screen through the MALP because everyone else had leaned in along with him. "I'll never get used to that," Jack muttered, staring.

"This is General Hammond of the SGC," the general said through the microphone.

The other O'Neill's mannerisms were...exactly the same as Jack's. He bent close to the MALP camera. _"Hey George. How you doing? Who else you got there with you?"_

"SG-1 and Harlan," the general answered.

_"Harlan!"_ O'Neill snapped. _"I told you to stay away from Earth!"_

"Yeah, well," Jack retorted, taking the microphone away from the general, " _I_ told you to bury your 'gate!"

Scowling into the camera, O'Neill answered, _"Well, you seem to think that solves a lot of problems, don't you?"_ Sam grimaced. Jack seemed to be annoyed enough to be less affected by the accusation, though Daniel suspected he'd feel it once he no longer had his own face to glare at.

Suddenly, O'Neill looked over his shoulder and then disappeared. Frowning, Sam panned the camera around, trying to see where he'd gone--

A few moments later, a man appeared along with O'Neill. "That's Darian," Sam said, clearly recognizing him.

_"Earth,"_ O'Neill said, pointing toward the MALP as if the man could see them through it. _"General Hammond and the other SG-1."_

"What exactly is the current situation?" the general said.

_"Our Teal'c is dead,"_ O'Neill said.

Daniel winced and looked up at Teal'c, but it was Jack who looked more disturbed. Teal'c didn't seem to care either way. "Oh my," Harlan murmured, sinking into his robe again.

_"Cronus...well, he wanted to draw it out, but once he found out we weren't quite human...let's just say Teal'c got damaged too much. Carter's been captured by Cronus, too. He's got a ship in orbit and his Jaffa are everywhere. So it's just Darian and me."_

The man named Darian leaned closer to the MALP and added, _"Please--help us."_

The general turned to all of them, lingering on Daniel for a moment, then nodded. "You have a go." He leaned into microphone and added, "SG-1 is on its way."

_"Thanks, George,"_ O'Neill said. He stabbed a finger toward the MALP camera. _"Harlan, you stay there!"_

Daniel checked his watch as the wormhole winked out of existence. "Just over eight hours left," he said.

"C'mon," Jack said tersely.

As they entered their ready room and pulled down their gear, Jack said, "Stay under the radar as much as you can. Cronus knows us all. With just the four of us and a couple of helpers, we're not going to do much good--we're going to need the Juna people to help us, like last time."

"We must once again prove to them that the Goa'uld are not gods," Teal'c said.

"If they'll even believe us after last time," Sam said.

"If Cronus is dead," Teal'c pointed out, his eyes bright in anticipation, "then they will have no choice but to believe us."

"Then all we have to do is assassinate the most powerful System Lord aside from Apophis," Jack said. "Piece of cake."

Teal'c didn't acknowledge the sarcasm. "He must have arrived in a ship to avoid using the Stargate. Therefore, we need to access his ship and kill him."

"Rings," Daniel said, mentally reviewing traditional Goa'uld methodology.

"Okay, sounds like a plan," Jack said, despite the horribly gaping holes in their idea. "We'll figure out the details as we go. And Daniel..."

"Jack?" Daniel said, removing a few nonessential items from his vest.

There was a pause, and then, briskly, "You know the drill. Follow your orders, even if it means hanging back. No heroics--anything that risks your life will risk your team, too."

Daniel nodded. He knew better than that now. "Yes, sir."

"I know you're sympathetic about the...the robots," Jack continued, leading the way out and toward the armory. "But we need to be one team now, not two teams who can't figure out who the commander is. Trust me, the other me would agree. He and the three of us know the layout of that main temple; you don't. You stick with Teal'c; do as he says. And Teal'c--"

"We understand, O'Neill," Teal'c said.

"Right," Jack said. He handed a P90 to Daniel and let him secure it onto his harness. Sam took her own weapons and then handed Daniel his sidearm.

The Stargate was already active when they entered the embarkation room. _"Good luck,"_ the general's voice said from the control room.

"Thank you, sir," Jack called up, then strode up the ramp. "SG-1--move out!"

XXXXX

**_9 July 2001; Juna (P2X-729); 1045 hrs_ **

They met Darian by the Stargate and followed him to the woods. And then the other O'Neill stepped out, and Daniel had enough time to register that the robot's hair was less gray before he snapped, "Well, look at you--" O'Neill stopped where he stood, staring. "Who... _Daniel?_ "

"Hi, Jack," Daniel said. Jack--his Jack--gave him a look. "Uh...well, I'm going to call you Colonel, at least just for now, or this could get pretty confusing."

O'Neill gaped at him, then turned back to Jack. "What the hell is he doing here!"

Daniel bristled. "He's a member of SG-1," Jack said, sounding rather more satisfied about that than he usually did, "so _he's_ following General Hammond's orders, which is more than I can say for you, pal."

"Oh, like _you_ always follow your orders," O'Neill said, rolling his eyes. "Besides, just because I'm not on the Air Force payroll anymore doesn't mean I can't do the job."

"The job?" Jack repeated.

"Explore the universe. Fight the Goa'uld."

"Oh, what, like now?"

"Jack!" Daniel said. Both men swiveled back around to face him. "Ss. Jacks. Colonels."

"What?" both of them snapped.

Sam cleared her throat. "Should we really be standing around here, sir--gentlemen?"

It was Darian who nodded and answered in thickly accented English, "It is not safe. There are guards in these forests. Come--we can speak in my home."

Jack gave his counterpart another final glare and set off after Darian. Sam gave the robotic O'Neill a semi-apologetic look and followed. O'Neill sighed exasperatedly and fell into line with Teal'c and Daniel.

"So," O'Neill said. He reached out, hesitated, and patted Teal'c firmly on the back. "How're you doing, Teal'c?"

"I am fine," Teal'c said.

Remembering that the other Teal'c was dead, Daniel said, "Colonel O'Neill, I'm sorry to hear about, uh, your Teal'c."

With a stiff shrug, O'Neill said, "Well, what the hell. We might _all_ be dead by the end of...oh, eight hours. You have a plan, right?"

"We do," Teal'c said. "However, we will require more information to implement it successfully."

O'Neill looked up at him, then turned back and concentrated on walking again. "Yeah. Sounds like something you'd say."

Daniel looked down as he walked, uncomfortable. It was hard to miss Teal'c when the Teal'c he'd known for four years was next to him, and at the same time, he knew it must be hard for O'Neill to be walking next to Teal'c when his own Teal'c had just died. Even now, their Jack was glancing over his shoulder suspiciously, as if to ask what they were chattering about.

"Here," Daniel said when he couldn't think of anything else to say. He unhooked his P90 and raised his eyebrows at Teal'c. When he received a nod from the Jaffa as permission, he held it out to O'Neill. "You should probably take this."

O'Neill frowned at it, and then at him, but didn't take it. "I have no idea what to say to you right now," O'Neill said.

"That you're still a better shot than I am," Daniel suggested, pushing the weapon toward the other man. "Trade me your _zat'nik'tel_ if it makes you feel better, but it makes no sense for me to have this instead of you." Finally, O'Neill took it, but he was reluctant in handing the zat gun over even as he glanced down at the gun on Daniel's thigh. Realizing then what a difference the missing years between them made, Daniel took the zat and assured him, "I've used these for years. I won't get hurt."

"Can't promise that," O'Neill said.

"If it makes you feel better, I came of age again yesterday, and I've had about as much cumulative training as new officers," Daniel offered. "And more experience."

"Yeah, well...hey--" O'Neill started, then stopped. Daniel waited until he tried again. "I have a feeling we don't have time to go into it, but just--what happened with Abydos? Why aren't you...?"

"Oh, Abydos is fine," Daniel said, remembering that this Jack O'Neill wouldn't know the details of why he'd stayed at the SGC. "There's a close relationship between Abydos and the SGC, Skaara's fine, Sha'uri's fine..."

"Really?" A real smile spread over O'Neill's face. "Their Goa'ulds--"

Daniel nodded, allowing a smile in return. "Gone. Extracted. We met Thor, and Thor's Hammer...long, _long_ stories. But yes, really."

O'Neill glanced at Teal'c, as if for confirmation, then gave Daniel's shoulder a brief squeeze. "Glad to hear it, kid."

Jack didn't call him that so much anymore these days. Daniel found he wasn't sure what to think of it. "We'll get your Sam back," Daniel said determinedly, startled by how perfectly real O'Neill's hand felt before it dropped away to grip the gun again.

"Catch up when we finish here?"

Daniel just barely caught the hopeful expression before it disappeared off O'Neill's face. "Yeah," he said. "Lots to catch up on."

With a final nod, O'Neill assumed the stance Daniel recognized well, the one that said he was about to start on a mission and was going to be serious about this one. "So what's the plan?" he said, turning to Teal'c and managing to look at him without even flinching.

...x...

"There will be as many as one thousand Jaffa on Cronus's ship," Teal'c said as they sat in the relative safety of Darian's home. "But that is not the problem."

"What _is_ the problem?" Jack said warily.

"The rings must be activated from within the ship," Teal'c said. "There was no control panel within the pyramid when we were last there."

Daniel squinted at the floor, trying to figure out how this was just an obstacle rather than a dead end. Jack scowled at Teal'c. "Now, see, you didn't mention that before."

"We had very little time to formulate this plan," Teal'c replied calmly. Daniel silently thought that calling it a 'plan' was pretty generous.

But O'Neill raised a hand. "It's all right. Carter might be able to help. The other one," he added to Sam, who was anxiously checking her watch.

"How's she going to know what to do and when?" Jack pointed out, not hiding that he thought it was a pretty stupid idea.

Instead of answering, O'Neill tapped his chest, cocked his head, and said, "Wait, excuse me." Daniel glanced at the rest of this team, just to make sure he wasn't the only one who thought this was odd. Sam had her eyebrows drawn low, looking worried, while Jack seemed to take this as confirmation that his double was either crazy or a moron. Then O'Neill looked up, tapping his chest once more. "Just a little static. But Carter said she'll do what she can."

"Uh..." Daniel said.

"Oh!" Sam said, her expression clearing. "You have a communication, uh...like an internal radio? That's amazing,"

"Yep," O'Neill said, then turned to give Jack a look that Daniel could only call smug. "I've been maintaining radio silence, but it's getting late, and we need her help."

"What about the Jaffa on the ship?" Jack countered.

"Once we have reached the _peltak_ ," Teal'c said, "the other levels can be sealed off. Cronus will have very few Jaffa remaining for support."

"How do _you_ know about the layout of Cronus's ships?" O'Neill said, frowning at Teal'c.

"There's a lot of history between Teal'c and Cronus," Daniel said, not wanting to take a long tangent into explaining just how well Teal'c probably knew the best possible methods of killing Cronus or taking over his ship, and how Teal'c must have studied Cronus over decades.

"What do we do with the thousand Jaffa once we've dealt with Cronus and taken over the ship?" Sam asked.

"We offer them freedom," Teal'c said simply.

O'Neill shrugged. "Gotta like that. So...about this alleged way of getting into the main chamber of the pyramid..."

"They are searching for Colonel O'Neill, are they not?" Teal'c said. "And Darian has been charged with bringing him to Cronus."

"Wait," Daniel said, sitting up straight. "Teal'c--"

"Yep," O'Neill said. He rolled his shoulders and handed the P90 back to Daniel. "Better switch back. I'm not getting in there with a submachine gun."

Daniel didn't take the weapon. "We're using you as bait," he said, then turned to Jack. "We're using him as _bait_?"

"He's our way in, Daniel," Jack said. "We've all done it before. Same as always. We'll be right behind him."

"This isn't the same," Daniel countered; "those were...more easily escapable situations."

Well. Maybe not more easily escapable. But now he was starting to realize how difficult it must have been for Jack to agree to plans in the past that had used him or someone else in that way.

"One of my people is in there, kid," O'Neill said, still holding out the gun. "Actually, she's the last one of my people, and both of us are running out of time. I'll do it. Besides," he added with another smirk at Jack, "I'm better, faster, stronger... Face it, buddy--I'm more likely to survive that than you."

"But--"

" _Kal shak_ ," Teal'c said sharply. "There is little time, Daniel Jackson."

Exhaling angrily, Daniel took the P90 even as Sam held out a pistol to O'Neill. "You should be able to hide this somewhere, sir," she told him. "How much time?"

"Just over five hours left in the power packs," O'Neill said. "And it takes about an hour to get to the pyramid from here."

Daniel watched out of the corner of his eye as O'Neill stood and, with the help of Teal'c and Darian, carefully secreted his handgun somewhere that would be reasonably easy to reach and still well enough hidden if they were careful.

For himself, Daniel turned toward an empty corner and brought his P90 to bear, squinting through the ring sight, just in case it had been somehow knocked out of place during the trip here. As he nervously checked the magazine and chamber, he caught sight of Darian pulling some sort of leather scale armor over his tunic.

"Hey," Daniel said, lowering the gun, "Whoever's following behind as backup will have to stay...behind, right?"

Jack must have heard something in his tone, because he exchanged a wary look with the other O'Neill and said, "Yeah. Not _far_ behind, but--"

"But whoever's actually _with_ Colonel O'Neill and Darian can help clear the main chamber," Daniel pointed out. "Obviously, none of you three can go, because the Jaffa are looking for Jack and they've seen one version of Sam and Teal'c already, but they don't know me."

"You've gotten up close and personal with Cronus," Jack said. "He knows your face."

"His Jaffa don't. Cronus is probably in his ship now, right, Teal'c? He won't be in the pyramid without a good reason?"

"That is likely," Teal'c allowed.

Daniel took off his glasses, blinked a few times to make sure he wasn't completely blind, and looked closely at what seemed to be one of Darian's tunics. He didn't think he was wearing anything else that marked him obviously as Tau'ri without a closer look. A roll on the ground would cover things like the seams on his trousers with smears of dirt, and no one would question that there might have been a struggle while they tried to capture Jack O'Neill.

"It wouldn't hurt," he said. "I'll come along, Darian will say we captured Colonel O'Neill, and then we'll have a better chance of overwhelming the Jaffa with three of us instead of two."

"Not a chance," O'Neill said, looking at Daniel as if he were insane or perhaps stupid.

Fortunately, Daniel was used to that look and raised his eyebrows at his own Jack. "I'll be in the firefight anyway. But if we fail to secure that room, we may as well give up the mission."

To his relief--and some surprise--Jack said neutrally, "Can you shoot without your glasses?"

Daniel eyed the cape Darian was pulling on--it looked like it could hide something relatively large--and tried to imagine the situation they would be in. "Well enough not to hit friendlies in that formation. I'll keep an M9 under my clothes so I won't have to handle the P90--I'm still better with that."

"You need better aim, then," Jack warned. "The armor will stop those rounds"--he nodded at the pistol--"four times out of five. Harder to kill than with a P90."

"I know the weak spots; a shattered hip or shoulder can still incapacitate," Daniel pointed out. Jaffa armor manufacturing wasn't consistent enough to be certain of any weakness other than where it didn't cover fully--between joints, in the head if they weren't wearing helmets, around the midsection if they'd chosen mobility over protection. P90s could get through most things a Jaffa wore, but they had to be more precise with pistols. "I'll get my glasses on as soon as I can. I can do it."

Jack hesitated, then nodded once. "Get dressed. Darian, give him a hand, will you?"

And that was done.

Teal'c gave Darian a nod, and the Juna warrior began searching for spare clothing. Daniel ignored the look on O'Neill's face and slipped the glasses into a pocket. He quickly stripped off enough of his SGC gear to pull on a tunic over his vest and a heavy cape made out of what looked like fur. He checked to make sure his glasses were easily retrievable. "Colonel," Daniel said, fastening the harness backward and adjusting until it fit snugly and was hidden under a belt, "if you'll clip the gun onto my back, you can grab it as soon as--"

"What the hell is wrong with you people?" O'Neill said.

"I'd take whatever help I could get if I were you," Jack snapped back. "It's a good plan. This is my team, and this is how we're doing it. So don't screw up."

...x...

**_9 July 2001; Juna (P2X-729); 1430 hrs_ **

"Halt," Teal'c said, holding up a hand. As the rest of the crouched behind the nearest bush, he looked out briefly, then pointed. "The temple is beyond that rise. There will be guards at the perimeter. From here, the three of us should proceed with caution."

Darian stood, looking determined. "We will go first," he said, nodding to Colonel O'Neill and Daniel.

Before Daniel could follow, Jack stopped him with a hand on his arm. "Ready?" he said quietly, pulling the cape open to make sure the P90 was snug against Daniel's back and the pistol was in place at his belt under the tunic. Daniel nodded, tugging his clothes back in place. "Say nothing, follow Darian, and when they start shooting, get to whatever cover you can, _first_. That guy can take care of himself. You help out _only_ once you're sure you can take of yourself."

"I know the drill," Daniel said, but Jack did, too, and must know he'd shoot first and run second if it looked necessary. He looked back the way they'd come and caught Sam's eye when she glanced around from watching their rear. "Good luck," he told them, and stood. She took a deep breath and nodded back.

Darian took the lead, just barely holding onto the robotic O'Neill's elbow as if to restrain him. Daniel raised a crossbow that he barely knew how to use and took up the rear.

"You done this before?" O'Neill said as they walked.

"Silence, prisoner," Darian said, giving them a pointed look.

"Ah, come on; I've got better ears than either of you or the Jaffa," O'Neill said dismissively. "No one's listening."

When O'Neill turned back, clearly waiting for a response, Daniel said quietly, "Sort of--but last time, I was in your position, Jack was in mine, Teal'c was in Darian's, and we had more Jaffa to deal with but more C-4 to use on them. And a baby. And Thor helped."

O'Neill shook his head.

"Long story," Daniel said. "But being young enough to look like a kid by many standards has its advantages. I've done 'covert' a lot."

"Can't believe you're on his team," O'Neill muttered. Daniel opened his mouth indignantly to answer. "Aht--someone's coming."

Daniel shut up. A Jaffa patrol passed nearby as they reached the top of the hill and looked down into the valley below to see the pyramid. Daniel waited for Darian to start down the other side before following.

They met three Jaffa on the way. Daniel was glad for the smeared mud and muddy paint on his face, because he found it more difficult than he'd previously imagined to say nothing at all and still make his gestures and his expression match what the Jaffa seemed to expect. At least O'Neill looked irritated enough that Daniel thought he himself must look positively stoic in comparison.

And then they were at the pyramid.

Two Jaffa met them. Daniel looked quickly around--no one else nearby. SG-1 could take both of these Jaffa easily, as long as no reinforcements came. Darian raised his fist to them in what must be a salute, then tilted his head toward O'Neill. One of the Jaffa smirked and nodded to them before entering the pyramid.

Okay. One less for SG-1 to handle.

Darian led the way inside. O'Neill followed, and Daniel had to quicken his pace to make it look like following was his idea and not his prisoner's.

There was a short corridor before they truly entered the main chamber, with plenty of columns to provide cover. Daniel counted four Jaffa standing guard--enough that they didn't want to have to worry about these guards joining a fight against them, but not enough to stop SG-1 from blowing through here from behind once the fight started and the Jaffa were distracted.

Finally, they reached a doorway, where Darian stopped, letting the Jaffa precede him. Daniel couldn't figure out what they were waiting for until, from within, the heard someone say, " _Ma'kree?_ "

"Sindar," Darian whispered, just loudly enough for Daniel to hear. "First Prime to Cronus."

When the other Jaffa answered to announce the prisoner had been caught, Darian strode forward again. Taking a deep breath, Daniel pressed the crossbow very slightly into O'Neill's back, and they followed.

As they entered, Daniel slowed slightly to let O'Neill pull ahead, just enough to give them both space to maneuver. The Jaffa marked with the gold Cronus mark--Sindar--was standing on a raised platform in the back.

While their attentions were fixed on O'Neill and Darian, who had taken the task of explaining, Daniel looked carefully around.

Including Sindar, there were four Jaffa he could see--no, five, including one to his right, standing guard by a large column. There might be others--there was enough room beyond his somewhat blurry field of vision that could conceal as many as two or three more, and reinforcements would come from behind. Darian would take Sindar by surprise, and then if Daniel could get the Jaffa standing to one side with his crossbow, he'd be able to use the column for cover while he reached for a weapon he actually knew how to use.

Sindar was speaking in Goa'uld, not the local dialect--Darian must be relatively high-ranked among the humans, then, which meant that Daniel, as his companion and someone never seen before, could either remain unremarked as a lowly soldier or catch someone's attention for being in Darian's company. In fact...

" _You_ ," Sindar said, pointing at Daniel as he continued to aim his crossbow at O'Neill's back. " _What is your name? Cronus will be pleased with your service._ "

Daniel glanced at Darian, who gave him a small nod. " _The gods are my judge,_ " Daniel answered. While Sindar seemed surprised--at his accent, maybe, or the talk of many gods or his answer itself--Darian shifted his grip on his own crossbow. " _But I do not think Cronus will be pleased._ "

In one quick, smooth motion, Darian raised his crossbow. Without waiting to see, Daniel whirled to the side, aimed at the Jaffa standing there, and released the trigger.

O'Neill was pulling at his cloak at the same time, though, and Daniel didn't know the bow, so he missed--the bolt only skimmed the side of the Jaffa's leg--but it was enough to give him time while the Jaffa stumbled.

As the weight of the P90 disappeared from his back, Daniel dropped the crossbow and ran toward the column, pulling the pistol from his belt. He heard rapid gunshots behind him and knew O'Neill was opening fire, so he followed suit, and his target was dead before he'd had a chance to recover.

Ignoring the corpse next to him, Daniel pressed himself against the wall as staff blasts blew past him to strike harmlessly nearby. He took an extra second to thrust his glasses onto his face, then moved out from behind the column to fix on another target.

His vision clearer now, he could see two others already down. O'Neill had the P90 braced against his shoulder and was aiming into a corner that Daniel couldn't see from his position, and Darian looked like he was covering the other side, but he was busy reloading his crossbow and a Jaffa was priming his weapon--

"Darian, _move!_ " Daniel shouted, taking aim.

Without questioning, Darian ducked out of the way, and Daniel squeezed his trigger in time to stop the Jaffa's staff weapon from firing at O'Neill.

O'Neill looked like he was trying to move out of the open, but there were too many firing all at once. Daniel reloaded and managed to wound two more in succession--one in the side, another cleanly through the shoulder joint, enough to make them both drop their weapons. In the brief pause that followed, O'Neill scrambled toward him and shared the column he was using for cover before they both had to duck back again.

"Stay down," O'Neill ordered shortly, and then used his synthetic body's greater weight to press a surprised Daniel against the wall as he peeked out to shoot again.

And then, as Daniel tried with frustration to get O'Neill to stop babying him without disrupting the robot's aim, he saw another staff blast, but from the other direction.

Teal'c's head appeared in the doorway. Automatic fire sounded from behind him, and Daniel knew the rest of his team had arrived.

Daniel finally squirmed out from behind O'Neill and circled around the pillar from the other direction, sticking his head out only to see his Jack appear, crouching next to O'Neill as they finished clearing the room together. Daniel looked around, but Darian's crossbow took care of the last Jaffa he could see.

The sound of gunfire stopped suddenly.

A beeping noise came from the corner. "Got it!" Sam called. Scraping stone sounded, and a door descended over the entrance, sealing them inside the main chamber of the pyramid and leaving any reinforcements locked out.

"Teal'c," Jack said, and then the two of them ran up to the raised platform to check the last few corners.

"Sweet," O'Neill said, lowering his weapon. "Daniel, Darian, anyone hurt?"

"Don't coddle me!" Daniel snapped, miffed, as he ejected an empty magazine and reloaded. "My bullets work like anyone's."

O'Neill looked taken aback but didn't answer.

Jack's voice called from the other end of the chamber, "We're clear!"

"Here, too," Sam said. "They won't be getting in anytime soon."

"My Carter's almost ready to activate the rings," O'Neill said, standing up. "She's going to try to hit Teal'c's autodestruct as a distraction." Daniel looked up in horror, but O'Neill had already moved on. "Darian, stay here and wait for our word."

That Teal'c was dead already, Daniel reminded himself. He would have been pleased to know his destruction would help in Cronus's death.

Daniel quickly unfastened the Juna cloak from his shoulders and stepped onto the platform. He crouched with his pistol in position to shoot as soon as they arrived, one Jack O'Neill standing on either side of him while Sam crouched behind him with Teal'c next to her, covering all possible angles.

"She's on her way," O'Neill said suddenly. Daniel tensed, moving his finger into the trigger guard. "Now!"

Rings shot up from the floor around them. Daniel squinted his eyes, knowing he'd be blinded by glare for a moment if he stared too long at the bright light from the platform--

They reappeared. Daniel scanned the part of the room in front of him, saw one Jaffa on the floor, either dead or stunned, then turned around.

Sam--the other one, Captain Carter--stood there, holding a _zat'nik'tel_ and looking generally well (and just like Sam), except for a patch on her cheek that looked like it had been burned off, revealing something metallic under the skin. As he watched, Captain Carter raised the zat and fired again on one Jaffa who had started to recover.

She looked over them, lingering on Teal'c. Before she could say anything, O'Neill nodded to her. "Nice work, Captain," he said.

"We need to seal off this level," Jack added.

"Apparently, there's a control center somewhere that services all the doors," their Sam said, standing up and facing her counterpart. "Kind of like a circuit panel."

Narrowing her eyes, Captain Carter thought for a moment, then nodded. "This way," she said tersely.

"Where is Cronus?" Teal'c said before they could leave. "The _peltak_?"

"Probably," Carter said, "but he and his troops will be heading this way--"

"I will intercept him," Teal'c said, and turned immediately toward the _peltak_.

Jack looked like he'd have called Teal'c back if they hadn't been in such a hurry--single-minded revenge wasn't the best frame of mind at the moment. Taking advantage of the rush and his standing orders to listen to Teal'c while in combat, Daniel said, "I'll go with him," and hurried off toward the _peltak_ before anyone could stop him.

Daniel was sure Teal'c would handily dispatch just about anyone in his path, because, as far as his friend was concerned, those were just obstacles between him and Cronus. That meant, however, that someone needed to watch the _other_ directions, and, indeed, Teal'c didn't even slow when Daniel fired on one of Cronus's Jaffa off to the side that he'd missed in his eagerness to reach the Goa'uld.

"Teal'c--" Daniel started.

"Get down!" Jack ordered from behind.

He turned and registered that it was the robotic Jack O'Neill, not his, then threw himself into a corner behind a small ledge just in time to avoid a Jaffa staff weapon. He glanced over his shoulder, but Teal'c had already disappeared down the corridor and into some doorway that had to be the _peltak_.

Gripping his gun tight, Daniel leaned out from his hiding place and realized with a jolt that there were four Jaffa, not one, even as he saw O'Neill duck out of sight. They were wearing helmets this time--these were real guards, not ceremonial watchmen like in the pyramid--so, discarding the head as a target, Daniel raised his gun and fired on the first Jaffa.

His aim was good enough, and one of his bullets struck between the armor plates at the Jaffa's shoulder. The Jaffa dropped his staff weapon with a scream. In front of him, O'Neill rolled into the middle of the corridor and opened fire, calling, "Go, Daniel!"

Daniel took one more shot and didn't wait before he sprinted around the corner where Teal'c had disappeared and found himself next to the entrance to the _peltak_ in an otherwise empty corridor.

Once he was there, he leaned against the wall for a moment to gather himself, then quickly moved into the room.

There were three Jaffa on the ground, either dead or unconscious, and Cronus was leaning over Teal'c. At the sound of his footsteps, Cronus looked up, and Daniel had a second to realize the Goa'uld had his hand in Teal'c's abdomen before he raised his gun and fired.

Too late--Cronus activated his force shield, and the bullets dropped uselessly to the ground.

"You," Cronus growled, standing and letting Teal'c flop back to the floor.

Even knowing it was useless, Daniel raised his gun and fired again and again until he ran out of bullets, hoping that O'Neill would finish and burst in behind him or that Teal'c would recover and _get up_ _right now_.

Cronus let his shield take the hits, though, and smirked. "You know, Daniel Jackson," Cronus said, "that that is useless. Did you and the _shol'va_ think you could defeat me?"

Feeling like an idiot but out of other options, Daniel threw the empty pistol at Cronus as hard as he could.

It flew awkwardly and struck Cronus in the face with enough force to surprise but not stun, but it was enough of a pause to let Daniel scoop up some fallen Jaffa's staff weapon and fire, hoping the shield was down.

No luck--the energy dissipated immediately, and Cronus's smirk became a scowl. Daniel took another step closer, bringing himself into range to swing the staff weapon around like a _bashaak_. Cronus couldn't quite dodge away from the blow, with the _peltak_ control console behind him, but Daniel was limited in the space available, too, and he struck only a weak, glancing hit against the armor Cronus wore.

Cronus regained his balance, grabbed the staff weapon, and tossed it away. A strong hand closed over Daniel's arm and threw him back hard against the side of the control console. The impact forced air from his lungs, and Daniel slumped back to the ground, momentarily too dazed to do anything.

"Foolish," Cronus said.

Daniel looked up and started to rise, but Cronus's foot dropped hard onto his chest and pressed him back down. As Daniel tried to reach or kick something-- _anything_ \--from his awkward position, the ribbon device rose over his head.

But before the familiar pain could hit, he heard the sound of a firing staff weapon.

Cronus jerked once, twice. His eyes glowed with the light of a dying Goa'uld, and he collapsed to the floor, his body just barely missing Daniel as his hand loosened its grip.

Daniel dragged in a breath and scrambled away from the dead System Lord. When he finally looked up, panting, he saw Teal'c drop a staff weapon to the floor and collapse again himself.

"Teal'c," Daniel gasped, crawling toward his friend. "Teal'c!"

"I will live," Teal'c whispered, but he closed his eyes, still trembling in pain with both hands over his symbiote pouch. "And you?"

"I'm okay," Daniel assured him, grabbing Teal'c's wrist to check his pulse because he didn't know what else to do. It seemed steady, if fast from the exertion, and Junior was moving within Teal'c's abdomen, so he dropped back onto his hands and knees, trying to make the spots in front of his eyes go away.

"Cronus?" Teal'c said weakly, staring to push himself back up.

Daniel cursed himself for the stupidity of fussing over each other before they knew they were out of danger. He forced himself to move, wincing at the ache starting to settle into his back where he'd hit the console and his chest where he'd been restrained, and looked at Cronus's staring eyes. Just in case, he reached out and touched a finger to the Goa'uld's throat, then reached around to the back where a symbiote's heartbeat could be felt.

"Dead," he said. He lowered himself gingerly to sit on the floor and found Teal'c staring at the dead form of the Goa'uld he'd been hoping to kill for over seventy years. "He's dead," Daniel repeated, thinking he should feel triumphant or relieved, or at least something other than tired and bruised.

Teal'c nodded once.

Then footsteps sounded in the corridor outside.

Daniel scrambled to pick up the first weapon he could find--a staff weapon--while Teal'c rolled over and grabbed a _zat'nik'tel_ from one of the fallen Jaffa's hands. As Daniel staggered to his feet and swayed back against the console, he thought that if they had to move much at all, they were going to be in trouble.

But it was their Jack who stepped into the doorway, looking anxious but relatively unwounded. Daniel lowered his weapon in relief.

Jack's eyes landed on Cronus for a moment, then roved over the two of them. "Dead?" he said.

"He's dead," Daniel said. Sam appeared behind Jack, and he added, "He had his hand in Teal'c's symbiote pouch."

At a nod from Jack, Sam moved to Teal'c's side, taking away the _zat'nik'tel_ and helping him into a sitting position.

"Wasn't Captain Carter with you?" Daniel asked when no one followed.

Sam paused but didn't look up. It was Jack who said, "We needed to get past a force shield to seal the ship. She got through for us, but...it must've burned out some circuits or something."

"She's dead?" Daniel said with a sinking feeling. He'd promised the other Jack they'd get his Sam back. And then _that_ made him remember--"Jack! The other one...he was right behind us!"

Jack hesitated, and Daniel pushed himself away from the console, hurrying past all of them and back into the corridor.

There were more than four Jaffa lying in front of O'Neill's body. A few reinforcements--two, three--must have been able to reach them before they'd managed to seal off this level. The P90 was still clutched in O'Neill's hands as he lay on his side, but he wasn't moving.

"Colonel?" Daniel said, dropping to his knees to the robot's side and carefully turning him over onto his back. "Jack?"

To his relief, O'Neill turned his head very slightly. "Thought you...weren't gonna call me that," he said in a strained voice, raising his head and then flopping back to the ground to lie still.

" _Nataru_ ," Daniel breathed in horrified fascination, watching some thick, metallic-looking fluid leaking slowly from O'Neill's leg. "Are you hurt anywhere else?"

"You mean...damaged?"

"Well, are you?" he insisted, patting O'Neill's body and not sure what he was looking for, except maybe more of that fluid that looked too much like silvery blood, and he learned very quickly that there was no pulse where there should be one on a human, but the fluid was leaking so fast that there _had_ to be something very, very wrong. "You can...you know, heal, right? I mean, can you be repaired?"

No answer came as he took his borrowed tunic off and looped it under O'Neill's leg, tying it tight and really hoping tourniquets worked on robots with an unknown fluid the same way that they worked on humans with blood.

"Hey," Jack's voice said from behind, and Daniel looked up to see Jack moving to crouch next to his counterpart's chest. It was only then that he realized the leg wound might not be the worst damage after all--there was something wrong with O'Neill's chest, too.

"What happened to Cro...nus?" O'Neill said, and Daniel imagined he could hear parts clicking as the robot's speech began to loose the normal timing of speech. "Everyone...else?"

"Cronus is dead," Jack said. "Your guys don't look so good. Mine..." He gestured with a thumb. Daniel glanced back to see Sam and Teal'c, both standing on their own now.

"Ah," O'Neill said.

"Jack--" Daniel started as he probed O'Neill's chest wound, and faltered when both of them looked at him.

O'Neill looked away first and turned to Jack. "Darian," he reminded. "Go."

So Jack said, "I'll deliver the news. Teal'c, get this ship on the ground and then see what you can do about the Jaffa down below. Carter, make sure we're alone up here."

"Yes, sir," Sam said. She glanced down at O'Neill, hesitated, and left the room.

"Daniel--" Jack started.

"Colonel," Daniel said when O'Neill's eyes drooped closed. He shook the robot gently. "Colonel O'Neill? Jack!"

"Daniel," Jack repeated.

He checked his watch. There were still two hours left before the power packs were to run out, but maybe doing more work--like shooting people and getting shot back--made them run out faster. Maybe that fluid leaking out was draining...something, too. "We need to get them to Harlan's planet. Maybe he can fix them."

Jack grimaced, but nodded. "Yeah. Okay--I'll get him to the ring chamber. Go with Carter and watch her back. If it's clear up here, the two of you bring... _Captain_ Carter and we'll all meet down in the pyramid."


	26. Jack O'Neill

**_10 July 2001; P3X-989; 0100 hrs_ **

"There's nothing you can do?" Daniel said. "You can't fix her?"

Harlan pulled his head down until the collar of his robe covered half of his face. "There is too much damage," he said sadly, touching the top of Captain Carter's head as she lay on a slab of stone. It seemed an oddly human, affectionate gesture until Daniel realized he'd been reaching for a switch that opened the top part of her skull.

Daniel felt himself make a face, but then leaned in closer to see the odd mix of metal parts and what looked like some sort of plastic membrane weaving through it all. He couldn't tell what it all was, but he didn't need to be an engineer to know that it wasn't good when there were parts that had been melted together and others that still smelled faintly of smoke.

With a sigh, Harlan closed Captain Carter's head and said, "I cannot fix her--even if I try, I cannot return who she was."

The large, overall mechanical repair would mean nothing if the mind--Sam's thoughts, her memories, her ideas--were gone.

"Sam wouldn't want to be...brought back without her mind," Daniel agreed, standing up.

"No, no, she would not," Harlan said, looking so miserable that Daniel wondered whether robots could cry, or if hydration of their eyes meant the same thing to them as it did to humans.

Daniel stayed at Captain Carter's side for a moment. She looked asleep. Not dead--he'd seen both enough to know 'dead' didn't normally look like 'asleep'--but just the way Sam's face usually looked when she was sleeping. Except, of course, that this one wouldn't wake up.

"Colonel O'Neill will be recharged soon," Harlan said, interrupting his thoughts.

Rubbing his eyes, Daniel squinted at his watch. "My Colonel O'Neill--and Teal'c and Major Carter--will probably be another few hours. There's a lot to clean up on Juna."

"I do not know how to tell my Colonel O'Neill about Captain Carter," Harlan said.

"He already knows," Daniel said. "We told him it didn't look like she'd live."

"I can repair him," Harlan said.

"Yes, you said that," Daniel said.

Looking anxious, Harlan added, "But I do not know if I should."

Daniel's first instinct said that they should fix Jack's robot, of course, but perhaps... There was a difference between not letting someone commit suicide and leaving someone to live alone forever and underground on a planet with no chance of going home or seeing friends ever again. They all had living wills, after all, stating the circumstances under which they wouldn't want to be revived or forced to continue living. If either Sam or Teal'c--the other ones--had still been alive, it might be different. As it was, with only O'Neill here...

"You can make copies of anyone?" Daniel said, an idea forming.

Harlan gave him a wide-eyed look. "I no longer do that without asking. Very, very bad."

"But you can," Daniel clarified. "Like...if I asked, you could."

"Ooh! Would you like to have a synthetic other?" Harlan said excitedly.

"No," Daniel said, but amended, "Well..." A whirring sound caught their attention before he could go on, and he turned toward the table where O'Neill was lying. "Is it supposed to do that?" he said uncertainly.

"His parts need to be repaired," Harlan explained, hurrying over to O'Neill's side. "I have joined him to a power source, but he will suffer continual wear if I do not repair him soon."

"Will it hurt him?" he asked. "I mean...will he feel pain when he wakes...when he's recharged?"

"His mechanoreceptors remain largely functional, but I have increased the nociception threshold within his somatosensory system so as to be essentially infinite," Harlan assured him.

Daniel raised his eyebrows. He took a moment to parse a few words apart before he decided that must mean O'Neill could feel things but wouldn't register them as pain. He thought that was what it meant. "Oh," Daniel said. "Okay."

Suddenly, O'Neill's eyes opened. He started to sit up, abruptly, the way Jack O'Neills tended to do when they woke up disoriented, and instead started to fall off the slab he was lying on.

"Jack!" Daniel said, rushing to his side to push him back onto the table. His own muscles, sore from the fight with Cronus, protested but didn't give way. "Don't move around too much. You're, uh...damaged. But you're safe now."

O'Neill settled back in place with a disquieting whir that reminded Daniel of Sam's old laptop when she'd tried to turn it on and the parts inside had started clicking and the fan started spinning faster than it should. "Daniel?" he said, turning his head slowly to look one way, then the other.

There was a disturbingly flat quality to his voice, too. Daniel wondered if it had something to do with the low power he was running on, or maybe if there was some wear on the mechanical parts in his larynx. "Yeah, Jack, it's me," Daniel said.

O'Neill blinked, slowly. "What happened?" he said.

"Juna is free," Daniel said. "Te-- _my_ Teal'c is talking to the Jaffa now with Jack. Sam and I brought you and...and your Sam back here, and she went back to base to get Harlan and to ask General Hammond for one of those boxes that Juna can use to call for help if anything happens to them again."

"My Sam?" O'Neill said, then swiveled his head slowly back to Harlan. "Harlan? Where's Carter?"

Harlan shrank into his robe again. "I am sorry," he said. "Her processors cannot be repaired without near-total replacement of the cognitive centers."

Still, O'Neill looked past all of them until he could see his second-in-command lying on the next table. "Ah," he said.

"I can make her functional again," Harlan offered.

"No," O'Neill said swiftly. "You're not turning Carter's body into some--" He stopped. In the sudden silence, Daniel could hear the quiet but just audible wheeze of parts moving against each other. "No, Harlan."

Harlan nodded vigorously in agreement, but he looked upset. Daniel wondered if the mechanical repair of Sam's body would have been a sort of mourning for him, a homage of some kind. It might not seem as macabre to him as it did to Daniel and O'Neill. "I should..." Harlan said, then pointed at some pipe in the ceiling and scurried away, out of the room.

"I'm sorry, Jack," Daniel said once Harlan was gone.

O'Neill shrugged, a jerky movement. Daniel couldn't tell if it looked mechanical because O'Neill was a machine or because he was Jack O'Neill and his team had died. "At least the real ones are still alive, right?" he said, and if it weren't for the oddly flat tone to his words, Daniel suspected it would have sounded quite bitter.

"I didn't go to Juna to clean up some mess I caused or to get revenge against Cronus," Daniel said. "I went to get you and Sam. And I really am very sorry we didn't save her and we got you hurt."

"You already have one of us," O'Neill pointed out.

Daniel sighed and sat down on the edge of the slab, so close to O'Neill that he could feel the vibrations humming through damaged parts. "I think," he said carefully, turning to look at the familiar face, "there's a tendency to feel that having another of oneself makes one less...unique. Less valuable. Like you don't matter as much if there's another one out there."

"What is this--d'you become a shrink while I was gone?" O'Neill said, and he sounded just defensive enough that Daniel thought he'd hit on the answer, or at least part of it.

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Daniel said, "I know you and...my Jack are bothered by...uh, each other. Maybe that's why, but it's not true. And I know what it's like to see yourself up close and... You see all the things you don't like to look at." He grimaced, wishing he could articulate this better. "And sometimes you miss what's good, but it's still there, even if it's hard for you to see it in yourself when you're...looking at, uh...yourself. And even _that_ must be hard to see, because it's like someone else took it from you."

Narrowing his eyes, O'Neill said, "How did you manage to get better at English and worse at making sense over the years?"

"I'm just saying it's not like that," Daniel replied, a little exasperated. "I don't know you as well as I know them, but I knew you before, so you're real and...and very _you_ to me. And the fact that I don't know you now as well as them is proof that you're different and unique. You have the same past, but you're not exactly--"

"Daniel," O'Neill interrupted. There was a tiny movement of his lips that might have been a smile. "You talk too much."

"Only when I want to annoy you," Daniel said automatically.

O'Neill snorted.

"I've never thanked you," Daniel blurted. He'd been counting back in the calendar, trying to pinpoint exactly when these versions of his friends had been created--exactly when the split between one Jack and another occurred--and he still wasn't sure, but he'd come to the conclusion that there had been a lot of things yet unsaid when these robots had been told to stay on a planet and never go home again.

"For what?" O'Neill said.

Daniel hesitated, then settled on, "For saving me."

O'Neill frowned. "No offense, kid, but rescuing you was part of our mission, and technically, it wasn't even our first priority. We just lucked out that way."

It took a minute for Daniel to realize what he was talking about. When he did, he said, "I'm not talking about Chulak. I'm talking about all those months afterward. You took me to Christmas at Sam's house, remember? And...and all of it. The stargazing on the roof, the..."

He stopped. It sounded almost meaningless that way, when he broke it into events and things.

"I remember," O'Neill said when he didn't go on. "And you don't have to thank me."

"I thanked him," Daniel said. "My Jack. And it occurred to me that _you_ had done all those things, too--at least, in whatever sense matters--but I never got a chance to thank you. Frankly," he added more lightly, "I'm flattered you remember a kid you knew for...what, five months, and then never saw again for three years."

O'Neill gave him an odd look. "Special case. It's not every day we escape from prison with an alien who walks barefoot around military bases, for crying out loud."

Daniel found himself grinning. The memory of those days was tinged with the constant hum of fear he'd felt back then, but after all this time, it seemed almost funny. Simpler. "I don't do that anymore," he said.

"It's also not every day I consider adopting that kid," O'Neill said quietly.

"I know," Daniel said.

"You do?"

"Yeah. He asked. Maybe a month after you, uh, left."

O'Neill raised his eyebrows. "That why you're still around?"

"No. Uh. It wasn't..." Daniel said awkwardly. "Well...at the time--"

"Yeah, I knew you didn't want a new dad then," O'Neill interrupted. "S'okay."

"Uh," Daniel repeated, and remembered that Jack had always seemed to know him better than was strictly explicable. "Right. But I understand now how much it means that you were willing after...well, you weren't exactly looking for a new son, either, but you offered anyway. You gave me a home, Jack."

" _He_ gave you a home," O'Neill said. "Don't confuse us."

Daniel suppressed a sigh. "You did, too, even back then, and you were going to offer. That matters to me."

O'Neill didn't answer. Daniel glanced toward the entrance, hoping selfishly that his team would take their time coming, just so he would have time with this man. Then O'Neill said, "Am I damaged beyond repair or something? That's why you're talking about all this, isn't it?"

"Can't you tell whether you're damaged?" Daniel asked, interested despite himself.

"I can tell that my diagnostic systems are damaged, because it doesn't work when I try to figure out what _else_ is damaged."

"Oh."

"You didn't answer my question," O'Neill said. He blinked again, a slow closing of the eyelids and slow opening again. "It's okay. I'm ready. Don't worry about me, kid."

"No, no, that's not it," Daniel said worriedly. "Jack, you can be fixed. Harlan said so. He said it's all...uh...damn. I didn't understand it when he said it, but the point is, he can fix you. Like new, he said, or even...well..."

"Better," O'Neill said.

"Better," Daniel agreed.

"So what's with the..." O'Neill raised a hand a flapped it listlessly. "You sound like you're talking to a man on his deathbed and want to get stuff off your chest before he goes."

Daniel swallowed. "Not exactly," he said. "But whatever happens from here, I have to go back to the SGC. General Hammond's given us time to finish our business, and we can stretch that out...well, some, but eventually..."

"Ah," O'Neill said.

"Yeah," Daniel said quietly. He took a breath. "Even if...even without that power issue, you remember the NID? They're involved in a lot more than we knew back then, and you'd be taken and experimented on or...or if you weren't, someone would want to destroy you for security reasons. Or someone would find something worse."

"I know I can't go back. Your O'Neill would stop me, anyway."

"That's not tr... Well. The point is, yeah, you can't go back."

"And you can't stay. So I guess this is it." Looking around the chamber they were in, O'Neill commented, "This would be one sorry existence, huh. Staying here forever, no one but me and Harlan to shoot the breeze."

"Well..."

"That's why Harlan hasn't already fixed me?"

"It--yes," Daniel admitted.

"That was thoughtful of him," O'Neill said. "I'm glad he didn't."

"Wait," he said, because he knew what was coming next.

"You know what I'm going to say. My team is dead. They weren't supposed to die without me."

"Jack--"

O'Neill raised his hand again and jerkily dropped it back on Daniel's arm, grasping just a little too tight for comfort. Knowing O'Neill couldn't really control or feel his grip properly at the moment, Daniel didn't complain or move to free himself. "It's okay, Daniel," O'Neill said. "Don't feel bad."

Daniel's eyes felt hot. He forced it back. " _You_ shouldn't be comforting _me_ ," he said.

"Why not?" O'Neill said, tilting his head in the direction of the corridor leading to the Stargate room. "I'm not _that_ guy. Your...your CO, or whatever he is to you now."

The last time they'd been together, Daniel had been missing his parents and Jack had filled their place, just temporarily, even though Daniel hadn't wanted a father and Jack hadn't wanted a son. Later, they'd settled into something different--maybe something more--but that hadn't really happened until after this Jack O'Neill had left the SGC. This man was the one who'd opened his door to an orphan, not the one who divided the grocery bills with his housemate.

But Daniel _was_ different now, and not just in height. He might not be this man's teammate, but he had duties, too, and if some of those duties were unwritten and unspoken outside of his mind, they were just as valid.

"I could stay with you," Daniel said.

"No, you couldn't," O'Neill told him.

"Well, not _me_ , exactly. But Harlan can make a copy of me, and it would be...me. As much me as you're you."

O'Neill's expression blanked completely again. This one was even better at that than the other Jack was, though that might have been from the mechanical damage.

Daniel cleared his throat. "We can't bring back your Sam and your Teal'c. And they can't just be replaced by...our Sam and Teal'c, I understand; they're different, and it would be...odd. But you haven't had any form of me around for the last three years. Think of it as... It's like we've been on different assignments for a long time and now we could start again."

"But _you've_ had one of _me_. You'd see me and miss your Jack."

"But we were going to catch up, remember?" Daniel said desperately. "I want to know how you've been. And I can tell you all about...um...Shifu--I have a little brother, Jack. And...and Chaka, and oh! Nick, I have to tell you about--"

"And do what?" O'Neill said, almost gently. "You said things are fine on Abydos but you're still not there. Why not?" Daniel didn't answer. "You don't belong here--nowhere to explore, no labs where you can stick your head in...trust me. You think it's enough to know there's another version of you out there, doing the stuff you should be doing, but it's not. Doesn't take long for it to be not enough."

"I'm willing to do it," he insisted. "I would do it, Jack. You did it, with Sam and Teal'c."

"We didn't belong, either," O'Neill said. "We held out long enough for Carter to build power packs, and then we went exploring. It was fun while it lasted, but we can't risk that again. We'd need to coordinate with SGC, and we can't."

"Then we won't risk it," Daniel said.

"You don't understand, Daniel," O'Neill said. "You'd have nothing to do forever. I don't want to do that to you."

"But," Daniel said. "But I'd have you."

"You have your own team," O'Neill said, and Daniel had fought so hard for that that he'd never thought it could hurt to hear it. "People like us don't belong here; we've been on borrowed time from the start."

"It doesn't work that way," Daniel said, shaking his head, because Jack had said himself that there was no such thing as borrowed time when they all fought to live. "You're not just...an extra person who can be thrown aside because there's another copy with less metal in him."

"Think again, Daniel," O'Neill said. "It happened once already. As soon as your team gets here, you're all going home, and I'm not. That's the way it works, and there's no way to change it."

"Then let us _fix_ it this time," Daniel said. "Somehow. There has to be a better way. I'll...I'll stand here and refuse to leave until the others agree to think of something else if you want."

"You can't do that," O'Neill said, looking amused and puzzled at once.

"Of course I can," Daniel said. "I've done stupider things for less."

O'Neill raised his eyebrows but didn't answer.

"Maybe we can figure something out," Daniel said. "We're really good at figuring things out even when it doesn't look like there's a solution-- _especially_ when it doesn't look like there's--"

The hand on his arm squeezed tight enough to bruise. "Daniel," O'Neill said firmly. "No. This is my choice. I won't do that to you, or to myself. My choice. I need you to respect that."

Daniel gripped the hand in return, wondering if he would feel the movement of parts shifting under the skin and surprised all over again when he couldn't.

"Okay," he finally said. "Okay. But wait for the others?"

"Don't think the others want to see me. In fact, it might be kinder if you just--" O'Neill stopped, watching him. Daniel wasn't sure what his face looked like, but O'Neill amended, "Actually, yeah, I've got things to say to them. I can wait a little longer."

Relieved and not sure why, Daniel nodded. "Can I do anything for you?" he said. "Anything."

"Tell me something," O'Neill said. "Are you happy?"

"I'm...uh, yeah," Daniel said, because 'happy' was a somewhat complicated word to use, but there was little he could want for within the boundaries of reason. But Jack needed to hear it, so Daniel nodded firmly. "Yes. I'm happy."

"What about the other me? Is he treating you okay?"

"Yes--Jack, of course. I'm fine."

O'Neill nodded. "All right, then," he said.

"I'll stay with you," Daniel said. O'Neill sighed. "Not--I mean...when they shut off your power. I'll stay with you."

"You don't have to watch," O'Neill said, but it wasn't a 'no.'

Daniel slid off the slab to stand and look down at his friend's face. "You'd do it for me. It's bad enough we're leaving you here. I won't make you live, but you don't have to die alone."

The hand opened and dropped away from his arm. Daniel was still holding it, so he lowered it to the slab next to O'Neill's body, aware of the man's eyes on him as he moved. It was a long time before O'Neill answered, but when he did, it was to say, "You've grown. Are you taller than Carter now?"

"Little bit," Daniel said. "It's been more than three years."

"Wish I'd seen it, kid," O'Neill said. "You mind me calling you that still?"

Daniel shook his head. "I don't mind."

O'Neill pursed his lips and looked around again. "You're a good man," he said, staring at a wall.

Taken aback, Daniel wasn't sure how to answer. "Thank you," he finally said. "I had good people to look up to."

"Here. Sit down," O'Neill said. "You said you're eighteen now?"

"All grown up," Daniel agreed, dropping back down to sit.

"You always said you _were_ grown up, even back then."

"Well, now I'm _more_ grown up. As it turns out, adulthood is kind of a continuum."

"I can't believe we started training a kid to be a soldier," O'Neill said. "Can't believe they let it keep going that way."

"I'm not a soldier," Daniel said. "Ask anyone at the SGC--I'm notoriously terrible at acting like a soldier." It wasn't what O'Neill had meant, though, and he knew it. "And it's saved my life more times than I can count."

O'Neill studied his face, and just when Daniel was sure he was about to say something profound, he said, "You've still got war paint all over your cheeks. And by 'war paint,' I mean 'mud.'"

XXXXX

**_10 July 2001; P3X-989; 1200 hrs_ **

Jack returned to Harlan's world to find Daniel dozing on the ground next to the other guy. Both of them were lying so still that Jack wondered for a moment whether his double was already dead, or powered down, or whatever the equivalent was, but then, O'Neill turned his head and looked at him.

"Just can't wait to see me go, can you," O'Neill said softly.

Daniel stirred. Jack gave O'Neill a warning look, then crouched to shake Daniel's shoulder. "Hey," he said. Bleary, blue eyes squinted up at him.

"Jack?" Daniel said, blinking. Then he sat up fast and winced, though Jack knew it was nothing more serious than some bruises. "Jack! You're..." He paused, then scrambled to his feet until he could see the other O'Neill and looked between them. "You're back."

"Yeah. Fraiser wants to see you at the SGC," Jack said.

"Why? I'm not hurt."

"You didn't have your post-mission check-up."

"We're not post-mission yet," Daniel said, lifting his chin stubbornly. "I was going to stay here."

"All right, I'm going to put it this way," Jack said. "Teal'c's getting Juna settled, and Carter's on base with Jacob. There's a situation. Nothing bad," he added when Daniel stiffened. "Hopefully. But we can't stay long--we've got another mission lined up, and you need to be briefed."

"But--"

"We're not post-mission yet," Jack parroted, knowing that Daniel could be manipulated into obeying him if he thought there might a crisis in progress.

He should have remembered, however, that Daniel's idea of duty and obedience was an odd one, and that there were levels of priority regarding his team and his friends and his mission that even Jack didn't always understand. "If it's nothing bad," Daniel started, shifting to stand a little more squarely in front of the other O'Neill's body, "maybe I should..."

"I need to talk to this guy," O'Neill spoke up. Daniel's eyes bounced between the two of them, and Jack realized his stance was protective, not just loyal or friendly. He wasn't sure whether he liked that idea a lot or not at all. "Go on. Give us a few minutes, all right?"

"All right," Daniel said. "I'll be just outside, so...if you need anything..." And because an O'Neill was an O'Neill, Jack knew what the robot had decided and what Daniel meant.

O'Neill's gaze moved to Jack, but he said, "Yeah, kid. It was good talking to you."

Frowning, Daniel nodded slowly at the robot. Then he turned around and gave Jack a look that said, _I'm trusting you but I'm warning you, too_. Jack wasn't sure exactly what that meant, but he nodded back and jerked his head toward the Stargate room.

Once he was gone, Jack turned back to his double. "You were saying?" he said.

"I need to give you the addresses of planets we went to that you want to avoid," O'Neill said. "Then I'll get out of the way."

"'Get out of the way,'" Jack echoed. "You make it sound like we--"

"Do me a favor and don't lie to your own face," O'Neill interrupted him. "You'll be glad when I'm gone and you're the only Jack O'Neill left."

And Jack could honestly say, "Not completely glad. Some people will be upset."

O'Neill stared up at him, and Jack decided this was absolutely something he'd never get used to, no matter how much he was exposed to Daniel Jackson-style philosophy, and he wasn't going to deny he'd be relieved when he didn't have to deal with it anymore.

Still...

"You'll want to write these addresses down," O'Neill said eventually, and then couldn't help adding, "Your memory's not as good as mine."

If the guy hadn't been about to die, Jack might have snapped something back. As it was, he looked around the floor until he found the vest Daniel must have taken off at some point and hunted through the pockets to find the small notepad and a pen that he knew would be in there.

"Is that standard issue these days?"

Jack rolled his eyes, flipping the notepad open and looking for the first page that didn't have some incomprehensible shorthand scribbled on it. "I _told_ him to take out nonessential equipment for this mission, but..."

"Daniel never thought a pen and paper were nonessential," O'Neill said. Jack glanced up, not sure what to do with that past tense, then decided it didn't matter. "Write this down..."

They spent the next few minutes getting the addresses written down. Jack wasn't sure if he was writing because the other guy's muscles--or pistons or whatever--weren't working properly or if O'Neill was getting in his last kicks telling about their missions in a way that made Jack wonder whether that was really what he sounded like when he gave Hammond a report.

When they were done, with a list of places not to go, Jack said, "You guys never went anywhere good?"

"We never went over twenty-four hours," O'Neill said. "Carter couldn't do real research in that time, and we couldn't negotiate for Earth anyway. So we found good places to strike--we were good at that."

Jack almost asked how they'd dialed without the Abydos cartouche data, but didn't. He supposed Captain Carter had found some way of dialing random glyphs until they hit an address that worked. She'd done it on Earth, after all, just with computers instead of a DHD, and that was before her head had been turned into a supercomputer. "Okay," he said. He glanced over his shoulder. "You want to talk to the others?"

"They want to talk to me?"

_Probably not, at least not all of them_ , Jack thought, but said honestly, "I can call them. Might want to see you before you..."

O'Neill looked unimpressed. "Die? Get the plug pulled?"

"Yeah," Jack said, hearing the defensive note in his voice but unable to push it away. "They might want to. But if you want, I'll tell them to stay away."

There was a long silence. Jack might have thought the other had fallen asleep or something if it weren't for the fact that he recognized that expression--he'd seen it before, years ago, and felt it, and picked up a gun. Then O'Neill said, "They've got you."

"Yeah," Jack said again. What the hell was he supposed to say to that?

"Listen," O'Neill said, staring at the ceiling. "Just do it quick, all right? Tell Daniel I was fine."

Jack puzzled over that for a moment, then gave up and said, "What?"

"He promised he'd be here when I go. He doesn't need to see that."

So then Jack finally understood that look Daniel had given him. "If he said..."

"Look, maybe I'm just a machine to you," O'Neill said, sounding impatient and a little scared the way a person could get when his sure path to suicide was being obstructed, "but you know him, right? He said I mattered. You really want him to see me shut off? Trust me, dead android looks a lot like dead man."

"He'll feel worse if he thinks you died sad and alone. He felt bad when Apophis died, for cryin' out loud."

At that, O'Neill raised his head a little. "Apophis is dead?"

"Well, no," Jack admitted. "But that's not the point."

O'Neill set his head back down. He probably didn't get it, but it was one of those things that would be pretty hard to get if he didn't know the whole story, and the whole story was long and, at the moment, unimportant. "He likes long goodbyes, huh."

Jack shut the notebook, stuffed it into Daniel's vest, and pushed the whole thing off to the side. "Not really--just had too many short ones lately." He reached up and keyed his radio. "Hey--" The radio in Daniel's vest on the ground crackled. So much for that. "Okay...never mind."

"What the hell did you people do to him? He was supposed to be safe."

Jack gritted his teeth. "You don't know--"

"Yeah, I do," O'Neill retorted. "This was _exactly_ what we were afraid of, and you know it."

"You have no idea what's happened to him," Jack said. "You don't know what's happened to _all_ of us."

"Well, whose fault is that?"

There was no good answer for that.

O'Neill glared at him a moment longer, then said, "Least Carter got promoted. Apparently some things have gone right. Tell her 'congratulations.'"

"I did," Jack said.

"For crying out loud," O'Neill muttered. Before Jack could decide what to do, O'Neill sighed, something Jack hadn't been sure robots did. "You have no idea how lucky you are," he said.

"Getting a little maudlin, are we?" Jack returned before he could think, because it was weird hearing stuff like that coming out in his voice. He remembered, though, the kinds of things that went through a man's head when he was thinking about pulling the trigger--or the plug, as it were--and added, "Yeah, I know."

"No, you don't," O'Neill said, looking past him. Jack turned around and saw Captain Carter's ruined body a few slabs away.

"I'll take care of them," Jack said, and it was a promise to himself as much as it was to the other, but he supposed that was sort of the same thing.

"If my power core's messed up," O'Neill said flatly, "I'm probably plugged in from my back."

Jack eyed the robot's form lying on the stone.

"The cord goes _under_ the table, flyboy," O'Neill added, annoyed.

"Hey--" Jack started, then clamped down on it and ducked to see under the table. "Yeah, I see the cord," he said.

"That's actually a bunch of cords...and don't break anything or Harlan'll just have to fix it," he added just as Jack was thinking of cutting it. "But next to it, there's a switch--"

"Yeah, all right. Just push it?"

"Fastest way to do it."

Fingering the switch on the underside of the table, Jack said, "Got it."

"And I don't want to be able to be downloaded back into anything," O'Neill added. "Ever again. You got it? We keep our brains in the same place you do. It's not hard. You know what to do."

Jack touched his gun, uneasy, but he'd done plenty of things in his life that had made him uneasy. At least this time he wasn't worried about whether it was the right thing to do. "I get it. I'll do it."

"If--" O'Neill started. He stopped. Jack didn't know whether to let him finish or go ahead with it.

But before either of them could do anything else, Daniel walked back into the room. Jack wasn't sure if he'd been eavesdropping or if he'd counted minutes and decided time was up.

"You're not going to change your mind?" Daniel said, stepping close to the table. "Or take some time to think about it? I'm still offering."

"Offering what?" Jack said.

"I talked to Harlan," he said, not turning from O'Neill. "Just say the word."

O'Neill glanced at Jack, then looked at Daniel and patted his hand once. "My choice. Not changing my mind."

Daniel nodded but didn't say anything. Instead, he positioned himself squarely at O'Neill's side. Jack moved around to the other side. If he'd been about to die, his own face wasn't what he'd want to see last in the world. "Do you sleep?" Daniel said.

"Well...sort of," O'Neill said. "Power-conservation mode."

Daniel looked down at where the synthetic hand still lay over his own. He gripped O'Neill's hand in return and smiled briefly at the android's face. "Go to sleep, Jack," he said.

O'Neill's eyes lingered on Daniel for several seconds, as if trying to keep the sight of him in mind, and then closed. It wasn't until Daniel looked up and met Jack's eyes that Jack reached under the table and depressed the switch.

For a second, nothing happened. Then the tiny, mechanical whirring and clicking noises slowed and stopped.

Neither of them moved.

Then Daniel pulled his hand out from under O'Neill's, leaving the entire body to look like it was really dead, because it was lying too still to be sleeping. A moment later, he shivered, and Jack moved around the table to pull him away.

"Don't look," Jack said.

"Jack, what--"

"He wouldn't want you to remember him like that," Jack said. "Trust me."

Daniel bit his lip and nodded in understanding, but he stared a moment longer before turning away and bending to pick up his vest.

"You go home first," Jack ordered. "I need to talk to Harlan about burying the 'gate, and then I'll meet you back on base." There was no answer. "Daniel?"

"All right," Daniel said quietly, and left.

Jack waited until he was gone and out of earshot before drawing his gun and shooting his double in the head. Remembering the radio and the other wires all over the guy's body, Jack put another bullet in his chest, just in case.

XXXXX

**_10 July 2001; Briefing Room, SGC; 1600 hrs_ **

"Everything is done?" General Hammond said.

"Yes, sir," Jack said. "Juna's going to need some time to adjust--again--but Cronus's body was pretty convincing, and we gave them some better advice this time around. They're letting us keep the mothership there until we have a place to move it."

"And that's where we come in," Jacob said. "As you know, the situation with Tanith is a very sensitive one, so we can't wait long before we set our plan into motion."

If it hadn't been for the chaos of that whole day, Jack thought he might have been much more pissed off about the fact that they'd just killed Cronus twenty-four hours ago, and already they'd told the Tok'ra and gotten their shiny new _hatak_ vessel co-opted for Tok'ra moving day.

As it was, he glanced around the table at the rest of his team and said, "How long've we got before you need to pull off this new plan?"

"We should do it soon," Hammond said. "It can't be easy to hide something this big in a society like the Tok'ra, especially with Tanith looking specifically for intelligence."

"The High Council has been talking about this for a couple of months now," Jacob added. "We've just been waiting for an opportunity, and with this _hatak_ vessel, we can finally move to a secure base and stop worrying about Tanith once and for all."

"That being said," Hammond added, "it's gone on for months already. After the day SG-1 just had, I'm sure another day or so wouldn't make a difference."

"How long is the trip from Juna to Vorash?" Daniel spoke up for the first time, more subdued than usual.

"Without knowing the specifications of Cronus's ship..." Jacob said.

" _Our_ ship," Jack reminded him.

Jacob smirked at him. "Of course. Anyway, from our distance calculations and Teal'c's estimates...under two days."

"Well...there's nothing else to clean up from this last mission, sir," Carter said, "besides Juna politics and continuing to monitor those Jaffa, but that's a long-term thing. We can help with any problems when we get back, or any other team can monitor the situation until then. If we're going to be on a ship for over a day anyway, we'll have time to rest."

Hammond looked over all four of them and landed his gaze on Jack. "Medically speaking?"

"Scrapes and bruises, sir," Jack said. "Teal'c was hurt worse than anyone else--"

"I am fine," Teal'c countered.

"Exactly. So by the time we get to Vorash, we'll be good to go. I mean, we're just standing around and letting them use our ship, right?"

With a nod, Hammond said, "And...other than medically speaking?"

"I think we should resolve the Tanith issue as soon as possible," Daniel said. There was an edge to his voice that he would have suppressed during a friendly briefing if not for exhaustion. "I don't want to be the one to tell Hebron he stayed Goa'ulded an extra few days because we were tired."

Jack grimaced. It was so easy to forget about Tanith's host sometimes until someone brought him up. He looked at Carter and Teal'c, too, and both of them gave him a nod. "We can leave as soon as everything's ready to go, sir," Jack said.

But Hammond had been there when they'd each gotten back hours ago, still covered in smears of Juna war paint and dirt, not a joke from Jack or a word from Carter or Daniel about the technology or the nature of life. Still directing his question to Jack, Hammond asked again, "Are you sure?"

Daniel was looking straight at him, though, so Jack took his cue and asked, "Objections, anyone?"

"No," Daniel said immediately. "I want to get this over with."

"I'm ready, sir," Carter added.

"I should return to Juna immediately and inspect the _hatak_ before we depart," Teal'c said. "Perhaps Selmak can join me."

Hammond stood. "Take an hour or two to make sure you have everything you'll need for the trip. Teal'c, Jake--you can go to Juna as soon as you're ready, and I'll send the rest along to meet you when everything's set. Good luck, people."


	27. Vorash

**_11 July 2001; Cronus's_ ** **Hatak _; 1200 hrs_**

Daniel had imagined doing many things upon joining SG-1 two years ago. Playing chess with a Tok'ra in the cargo hold of a Goa'uld mothership was not one of them.

It wasn't even Jacob, though that would have been strange enough; General Hammond had asked Martouf if he wanted to accompany them. If Jacob was the Tau'ri representative to the Tok'ra, Martouf was (at least in theory) his counterpart at the SGC, and he hadn't seen other Tok'ra for months.

There were concerns, of course. While Martouf and Lantash together had become fairly good at daily tasks, it still required far too much concentration for him to orient himself in an unfamiliar room or situation, much less an unfamiliar world or section of space. Still, everyone had decided, while Jacob might be willing to give them all flying lessons, it wasn't something they were going to learn immediately. If Jacob and Teal'c were both busy and something went wrong, they would need _someone_ who had some idea of what he was doing. Jack and Sam had picked up bits and pieces over the years, but most of that had been with _teltak_ and _udajeet_ , not _hatak_.

"My condition makes me particularly unsuited to flying," Martouf had pointed out, looking bemused. "The instincts I once used for such tasks...my muscular response to sensory input and processing is not optimal, and..."

"You still know what all the buttons do, right?" Jack had pointed out. "You can backseat-fly."

Daniel was pretty sure that it was a combination of the prospect of returning to visit his own people briefly, spending free time in a ship with Sam, and going on any sort of mission at all that convinced the man that he should join them.

So while everyone else was running around the ship (Jack), examining the engineering room (Sam), or helping Jacob fly the ship and check the controls (Teal'c), Daniel found himself playing a strategy game with a former Tok'ra operative. Sam said that Martouf liked to do puzzles and play games like this as a sort of brain-exercise, and they _did_ have a long trip with many hours to pass.

"Can I ask a question?" Daniel said as he pushed a Rook three squares forward.

Martouf looked up, then back down at the board. "Of course. Remind me--this piece may move...?"

"Like this," Daniel said, pointing diagonally outward from the Bishop in question. Martouf nodded and considered the board. "How separate are you and Lantash? I mean...does one mind control your actions at a time? Or can Martouf talk while Lantash moves a chess piece?"

"Mm," Martouf said.

He didn't say anything else, though. Daniel wasn't sure whether it was because this was considered impolite conversation in Tok'ra company or he was just focusing on the game.

Then Martouf captured a Pawn, put it aside, and said, "When I speak, I am largely in control of this body. However, Lantash is never silent to me. In a very real sense, through influence, we share control."

"Is that how you think of it?" Daniel asked. "That's the body that either of you can use, not, well, Martouf's body that Lantash...entered?"

"We share our body without reservation," Martouf said. "But it _is_ still Martouf's--one day, the body that you see will die, and Martouf along with it, while Lantash will live on."

"Oh. Right." Daniel started to pick up a Pawn and then put it back down without moving it. "Lantash would need to find another host, yes?"

"Yes."

He grimaced at the chessboard, debating simultaneously whether to move that Pawn or that Knight and whether to ask his question or not. In the end, he moved the Pawn and stayed quiet.

Perhaps Martouf had heard the question anyway, though, or had thought of it himself. "We are aware that few humans are willing to blend with a symbiote without understanding the process," Martouf said calmly, "especially when that symbiote is not...completely whole. Lantash did suffer some damage from the _zatarc_ device, if not as much as I."

Daniel glanced at his face. "I didn't mean... I mean, you seem to manage pretty well most of the time." Sam would get everyone to withhold coffee from him when they got back to base if she thought he was being mean to Martouf. Either that, or she'd tutor him in sparring for a while.

But Martouf said, "There are certain things that both of our minds lack--the ability to strengthen some types of memories, for instance--but Dr. Fraiser believes those impairments in Lantash would be compensated by a fully functioning host's mind. In truth, if Lantash sought another host now, he might be able to return to our work as an operative."

Startled by the man's bluntness, and the lack of bitterness in his tone, Daniel could only say, "Uh...well. Okay."

A moment later, he looked up from the board and saw Martouf glaring at him. Daniel couldn't figure out what had brought that on, and then realized it was Lantash. "It will be many years before I will need another host," Lantash said, sounding annoyed. "I will not abandon Martouf to find a new host, if that is what you ask."

"No, no, no," Daniel assured him quickly. "I wasn't trying to imply that you would. It's just that, what with the secrecy on Earth, and because there aren't many actually available to volunteer as hosts..." Lantash glared a little more, so Daniel, realizing his utter lack of tact far too late, added, "Sorry. I didn't mean to pry. You won't need another host for many years, I know."

He looked back at the chessboard, so he only noticed peripherally when Lantash's posture relaxed to Martouf's less-offended seat. "Forgive us," Martouf said.

"No, forgive _me_ ," Daniel said, embarrassed. "I'm sorry. Really, I didn't mean to imply anything. Sometimes I talk without thinking first."

Martouf smiled. "So does Lantash. Your move," he said, gesturing at the board.

"No, it's your turn."

"No, I am quite certain it is yours."

"No, it's not."

"Yes, it is."

The whole thing suddenly struck Daniel as absurd, and he snorted a laugh. Martouf's smile widened sheepishly.

"In the next days, the fate of the Tok'ra race will rest in our hands," Martouf said ironically.

Daniel scratched his head, knowing he'd been distracted. He thought he remembered that Martouf might have made a move, but he was pretty sure he'd made one, too, while both of them had been distracted... Abandoning the game, he sat up straight and leaned back on his hands. "You and Lantash are, uh...very different."

"He can hear you," Martouf reminded him.

"I know--I'm not trying to talk behind anyone's back."

"Then you are correct."

"You don't ever disagree on what to do?" Daniel asked. He imagined Martouf trying to walk to the left and Lantash to the right. He thought Lantash would win out but couldn't decide whether he thought that because Lantash was more boisterous or because Lantash was the Goa'uld. "I'm sorry--am I breaking some rule of etiquette?" he said belatedly.

"Do not apologize for curiosity, Daniel," Martouf said. "I work in Samantha's laboratory--I am well accustomed to questions."

"You can tell people to mind their own business, you know, if we're bothering you."

"Between SG-1, General Hammond, and Lantash," Martouf said, "you may rest assured that I feel very well protected."

"Lantash _is_ very protective of you," Daniel said. "Of Martouf, not just the whole...ensemble."

"Two minds do not have to be the same to be devoted to one another," Martouf said, then smiled. "But all of you on SG-1 must know that very well. I sometimes imagine that I can hear you and Colonel O'Neill shouting from two levels above."

Daniel flushed slightly at the exaggeration. "Jack and I are not symbiotic," he pointed out. "We'd go insane if our voices were in each other's heads."

Martouf laughed softly. "Perhaps," he acknowledged. "It is difficult for you to understand without having experienced a blending. It is not...a voice inside one's head. We are two voices, but we act as one."

"I...have no idea what that means," Daniel admitted.

"You wouldn't," Jacob's voice said. Daniel turned around to see him and Sam in the doorway. "Trust me--you can't really understand until you've been blended yourself."

"Hm," Daniel said, not wanting to accept that he just _couldn't_ possibly know but not wanting to continue badgering Martouf, either.

"Has something happened?" Martouf said. "I thought you were flying the ship, Jacob."

"Teal'c's watching the controls while we're in hyperspace," Jacob explained. "Jack's...'helping.' I was getting bored and Sam and I wanted to know where you guys had disappeared to."

Martouf perked up. "Do you need help in the engine room, Samantha?"

"She'd better not be messing around with anything she needs help with," Jacob answered, giving his daughter a sideways look that was returned as a scowl.

"I haven't been messing around with anything, Dad!" she protested. "I'm just looking. There are areas I still don't completely understand, that's all."

"I could explain to you," Martouf offered.

Daniel looked one more time at their chess game, then cleared the board. Martouf looked like he wanted to go and join Sam, and neither of them could remember where they'd left off, anyway. So Martouf thanked Daniel politely for the game and Daniel thanked him back for answering all the questions, and Martouf left, trailing after Sam.

He'd already finished packing the chessboard away when he first realized Jacob was still standing in the doorway. "Something wrong?" Daniel asked, standing up.

Jacob shook his head. "You know the way back up to the _peltak_? It's a big ship."

"Oh. Well, thanks, but I'm sure I could've found it eventually on my own."

Walking with him back out of the room and around the admittedly-confusing corridor that led toward the upper level, Jacob said, "Teal'c tells me you killed Cronus with him."

Daniel snorted. "Only if you count distracting Cronus by being stepped on. I just helped to sneak into the temple and then got in the way long enough for Teal'c to shoot."

"Team effort," Jacob said, shrugging unconcernedly. "I tell you, next time we need someone completely undaunted by System Lords to help us on a mission, we'll come right to you. What's your specialty--infiltration?" When Daniel's eyebrows shot up, Jacob said, "Worked on Seth. Worked on Cronus. I hear it's worked on Heru-ur and more than a few human enemies. You know what--we should make you an honorary Tok'ra spy."

"Uh...right," Daniel said, unsure whether to be amused or disturbed.

Even knowing it was meant as a compliment, if delivered with the teasing, somewhat patronizing tone he'd come to expect from Jacob, Daniel couldn't help feeling...not resentful, exactly, but not completely happy about it, either. He himself had used that same argument with Jack in the past, but he hadn't expected that someone with an outside perspective--not even that far outside, as it was Jacob--would assume his specialty was espionage instead of translation, collecting intelligence instead of collecting data. Besides, that last mission had been one of the ones whose results seemed different to those who had been there. He imagined some efficient employee in the Department of Defense might skim their reports and include it in the President's briefing as:

_'SG-1: killed Cronus, gained mothership, freed approx. 1000 Jaffa (allegiance unconfirmed). Android technology could not be salvaged.'_

It just felt wrong.

"You okay?" Now Jacob was frowning at him. Daniel nodded but didn't say anything. "That was a joke, you know."

"I know."

"That wasn't your first mission by a long shot..." Jacob said, looking like he was trying to figure something out. "You sure you're good for this one? You said you were."

"And I'll do what we need to do to get the Tok'ra to their new base," Daniel said, more sharply than he'd meant. "Sorry. It's... We lost some...some friends on Juna. I was just thinking."

"The robots. I heard. Daniel, look, sometimes we're gonna lose people--"

"I _know_ that."

"Think of it this way," Jacob said in a tone that sounded like he was trying to be encouraging. "At least it wasn't one of the real copies--no human casualties, I hear, which is incredible under the circumstances."

Daniel reminded himself that, before seeing the robots himself, he'd been expecting to see something that set them apart from the humans, and that no Tau'ri or even Tok'ra could probably imagine anything like what Harlan's people had managed to design.

"Three people died, General," he said stiffly. "We have this ship because of their sacrifice. Don't tell me they don't count."

Jacob wasn't thrown, though; he never was. "They died getting Cronus killed, then, or keeping you alive long enough to kill Cronus."

Maybe the problem was that the deaths of the androids was mixed with too much shame and guilt. They had failed to keep an eye on Juna after overthrowing Heru-ur's forces; they'd failed to consider the implications of leaving people on Harlan's planet; they'd used the other team's rescue mission to assassinate Cronus, and the rescue itself had been a complete failure.

Perhaps the worst part was that, if Daniel _had_ been part of the team the first time they'd abandoned themselves on an alien planet, he knew he would have done the same, no matter how much he'd argued this time. There were simply few other choices, with the combined issues of power consumption and security. He couldn't say now that he would have changed any of their decisions on that last Juna mission in retrospect. He couldn't even honestly claim to have missed the androids over the years, not when he'd had his friends with him. Knowing that only made it worse, because he knew _they_ had missed Earth. They had mattered in and of themselves, and Daniel almost wished he missed them more, because they deserved that.

"Hey," Jacob said and Daniel realized he had stopped walking. Regarding him solemnly, Jacob said, "All right--maybe I don't get it, but I know what it's like to lose someone. If you want, you head back to the SGC through the _chaapa'ai_ once we hit Vorash, and that's fine. No one'll say a word. But if you're staying with us..."

"No--I'm okay," Daniel said, shaking himself. "Jack wouldn't have let me come if I weren't." When Jacob didn't quite look convinced, he pointed out, "We're providing transportation. I won't have a nervous breakdown loading equipment onto a ship, Jacob."

To his relief, Jacob dropped it and only said, "Not quite _that_ flaky, huh?"

If anyone else had said it, with anything other than that smirk Jacob always wore along with two-thousand years' worth of memories and experience, Daniel might have been offended. As it was, he huffed a laugh and said, "Not quite."

They emerged into the _peltak_ , where Jack seemed to be so bored with staring out the window into hyperspace that he'd sprawled over a chair and was staring at the ceiling instead.

"Who won?" Jack said, nodding at the small, folded chess set Daniel still held in his hand.

"We lost track of the game," Daniel had to admit.

Jack gave him an incredulous look that said, _'Martouf's brain-damaged; what's your excuse?'_ and said aloud, "Well, I'm going out of my mind here. Who wants to play?"

Daniel sank to the floor across the board from him and decided there was something comforting, too, in the way Jack's mind worked. Maybe Martouf and Lantash had it right, after all--he and Jack were so different as to seem completely incompatible, and yet, at times like this, he thought it was all that kept them sane.

XXXXX

**_12 July 2001; Cronus's_ ** **Hatak _, Vorash; 1800 hrs_**

"There it is," Jacob said. Daniel looked up from the report he'd started to write in his notebook and peered outside.

Jack came in from wherever he'd been lurking and stood behind Jacob's seat. Daniel settled at Teal'c's side and saw Vorash loom into view under them. "They know we're coming, right?" Daniel said, remembering that the Tok'ra had all sorts of sensors and alarms to prevent aerial attacks.

"I have already made contact with the base," Teal'c assured him. "The Council is expecting our arrival."

"Brace yourselves," Jacob said suddenly as the planet grew larger and larger in their window. "We'll hit atmosphere in three...two..."

Despite the warning, Daniel and Jack both found themselves skidding backward away from their places anyway. "Need to put in more chairs," Jack muttered, holding onto the bulwark at the back of the _peltak_.

The rumbling turbulence of their landing must have alerted Sam and Martouf, who hurried in to join them. "All right," Jacob said as they neared the barren-looking surface, "no one say a word to Tanith until we get him into a cell. If he tries to escape, there'll be enough people to stop him, but we don't want to risk any casualties or the chance he'll get to contact Apophis first."

"You _are_ going to extract him, aren't you?" Sam said.

"Yeah, of course," he assured them.

They slowed, then finally stopped moving. "Keep your radios on," Jack ordered as they prepared to move toward the ring platform. "Anyone disembarking, help out if you can, and see if we can't speed this up. Or stay on board if you want--guard the ship from sticky Tok'ra fingers." Jacob gave him an exasperated look.

"Should I...?" Martouf said, stopping just outside the rings.

"Up to you," Jack said with barely a hesitation. "Stick with someone while you're down there, though. The tunnels have probably shifted a little since the last time you were there." Martouf glanced at Sam, then stepped onto the platform beside her. "All aboard? Let's go!"

...x...

As it turned out, Daniel was a bit useless as people much stronger, more efficient, and more savvy than he worked to move things to the surface. He stood at the rings at first, intending to help, but soon decided he wasn't doing any good there.

He wasn't sure whether it was by accident or on purpose on some subconscious level, but it wasn't until he saw Teal'c striding toward Tanith's makeshift cell that he realized where he'd been wandering.

Teal'c wouldn't kill Hebron, though. Daniel was...well, kind of sure about that. Besides, there were Tok'ra guards around.

He loitered some distance away, where Teal'c couldn't see him and where Daniel would see when Teal'c walked out. The Tok'ra gave him odd looks but didn't bother him. He had a feeling the Tok'ra had decided to accept him and the rest of the unblended humans as oddities, anyway, who were best left alone unless they were interfering with something. They were probably just glad he was staying out of their way.

It seemed like hours before Teal'c walked out again, though his watch said it had been barely a minute. To Daniel's surprise--and a little alarm--there was a smug smile on his friend's face.

"Hi," he said, stepping out and unable to help a wary look toward Tanith's quarters.

Teal'c nodded to him, saw his glance and said, "He is awaiting his extraction."

"Right, of course."

"You feared I would do worse," Teal'c said, looking down at him.

"No," Daniel denied, then admitted, "Maybe. Everything okay?"

Teal'c's smile became frighteningly gleeful. "I look forward to crushing Tanith between my fingers as he crushed Shan'auc's symbiote between his."

"Oh," Daniel said. "That's...nice."

Teal'c had given Daniel his word about not killing Hebron to kill Tanith if he didn't have to, though, and he hadn't. Daniel liked to think Teal'c was being rational about Tanith in a controlled situation, not just hampered by the difficulties of killing him when surrounded by armed guards.

Teal'c didn't say anything, but he moved one step to the side, enough to invite Daniel to fall into place beside him as they made their way down the corridor. Despite how hectic things were here today, and despite the fact that they were far from home, it was nice to walk next to his friend for a while and not carry a gun or listen in paranoia for footsteps behind them.

As usual, Daniel broke the silence first, because silence was fine until it became boring. "Have you seen Sam?"

"Major Carter is taking Martouf to the control room, where he can explain to her the specifications of Goa'uld motherships," Teal'c said.

It was an oddly careful way of phrasing it, but then, Martouf was an odd Tok'ra. Daniel wondered what it was like for him to see tunnels that looked familiar but whose layout he couldn't quite hold onto in his mind without long study, or to need a human to make sure he didn't get lost but be able to explain technical details to her once he was there.

"Are you glad Cronus is dead?" Daniel asked.

Even though it seemed an easy question with an obvious answer, Teal'c knew what he meant and said, after a long moment, "It was not as I had thought it would be."

Daniel nodded slowly. "What did you think it would be?"

"I have yearned for the moment of Cronus's death at my hand," Teal'c said as they wandered aimlessly through the crystalline corridors. "In my thoughts, Cronus was surprised, or resigned to his fate, or fearful."

"But always with you standing over him," Daniel guessed, "not still the one being punished and just barely escaping with our lives."

"Indeed," Teal'c said, then didn't elaborate.

"The Goa'uld are still stronger than we are in most ways," Daniel said. "We're always going to be winning by...by chance or by stealth and trickery."

Teal'c nodded once. "Cronus is dead, and my father has been avenged. That is what matters. I only wish you had not nearly died for it to pass."

Daniel shrugged. He glanced around himself, then admitted quietly, "I've dreamed of Apophis being dead, too."

The images in his dream weren't always of the death itself, though. Sometimes he was the one who pulled the trigger, but sometimes, the dreams were of simply knowing Apophis was gone, not of seeing it or doing it himself. Often, it was vague in his mind, not concrete images, and sometimes he woke gasping and terrified and other times it was quiet and almost gentle. He never knew what to think about it, which confused him more than anything else.

But Apophis was a difficult topic to breach between the two of them without going into more than they could afford to do while off-world, so Daniel added, "But I guess we have a lot to do before we need to think about that, huh?"

"That is likely," Teal'c agreed. "In fact, we must first finish transporting the Tok'ra to their new base." He picked up one end of a large console that had already been disconnected from wherever it had been plugged in before and gave Daniel a pointed look. Daniel picked up the other end and helped carry it toward the rings.

...x...

**_13 July 2001; Vorash; 2200 hrs_ **

It took the better part of a day to load most of the supplies onto their ship. It seemed a long time until Daniel considered that they were actually trying to transport all of the Tok'ra, and their entire base of operations, _and_ their Stargate. In light of that, it was actually a remarkably quick business. Moving was one of the Tok'ra's specialties. They were so efficient, in fact, that Daniel had almost begun to believe they would actually finish a mission as planned this time.

In retrospect, he supposed he should really stop thinking silly things like that.

He pressed himself against the wall of a tunnel when an alarm sounded throughout the base, already anticipating the stream of Tok'ra that ran past him a second later.

"What happened?" Daniel called when he recognized Aldwin.

Aldwin barely slowed. "Tanith's escaped," he said, and ran on.

Minutes later, the alarms had turned back off, and the frantic rush had slowed, but only because the search party was on the surface with Jack and Teal'c, and everyone else had focused his or her energy on the final steps of their move.

Even then, Daniel was left being useless again. Sam and her father closed themselves in the council room with Martouf to talk, so Daniel loitered at the ring chamber, waiting for news.

Finally, Jack returned with the group of Tok'ra patrols.

"Where's Teal'c?" Daniel said after a quick scan of the faces.

"Still looking for Tanith," Jack said, stepping off the platform and wiping sweat from his face.

Daniel looked up reflexively, as if he could see the surface from here. "You've been there for hours already--he'll get heat sickness."

Jack shook his head. "He'll be okay. He's a Jaffa." He led the way back toward the council chamber. Daniel followed, still anxious.

"He doesn't actually think he's going to find Tanith somewhere on this whole planet, on foot?"

"He's a Jaffa," Jack repeated. "He's Teal'c."

Unfortunately, that explained it pretty well.

Knowing there was more at stake than any one person--or even any team of four people--Daniel clamped down on the protest that wanted to emerge. Teal'c could get single-minded when he wanted revenge, and not in a good way. It was what made Teal'c do the kind of thing that Robert used to call stupid, and the kind of thing about which Daniel used to agree.

But Jack was doing that assessment that he thought was very subtle and actually wasn't, the one with fleeting glances at Daniel to gauge whether or not he could handle something, which was something he only did when they were about to step into a _situation_. A perverse part of Daniel was almost glad for whatever was coming up, despite the incredible danger it put everyone in, just because it gave him something to do and to think about.

So he only nodded and reported, "The Council's been coordinating all the Tok'ra on base and trying to figure out what damage Tanith was able to do. Sam, Martouf, and Jacob are in that room; she said they needed to talk to you as soon as you got back."

"Then let's go," Jack said decisively, and strode into the chamber.

Both Carters looked up at their arrival, though Martouf continued staring at something on one of their screens. "It seems Tanith's been busy," Jacob said grimly. "We've received word from one of our operatives that Apophis has been given our location."

Daniel winced. "He must be trying to make up for months of mistakes."

Jacob nodded. "An attack fleet is being assembled."

"How long will it take him to get here?" Jack asked.

"Less than a day," Jacob said.

Alarmed, Daniel checked his watch, though he wasn't sure what he expected it to tell him. "We have to speed up the evacuation," he said. "It was supposed to take another...at least a day or two before we'd finish moving everything."

Sam nodded. "We're going to start sending people through the Stargate."

"What? Where?" he said. The whole point of evacuation by _hatak_ was that the new planet didn't have a Stargate of its own. "If we leave some equipment behind, we can stuff everyone and the Stargate onto the ship and go right now before Apophis's fleet arrives."

"We have a temporary site with a Stargate on the other side," Jacob assured him. "We can go back there, pick everyone up, and take them to the permanent site afterward, but for now...Sam and I have come up with a different plan."

"If it works," Sam added, "we may be able to wipe out a significant part of Apophis's fleet, but _this_ Stargate"--she pointed upward, toward the _hatak_ \--"will have to be destroyed to carry it out."

Jack exchanged a look with Daniel. "Okay," Daniel conceded, "that's probably worth it."

Martouf was being silent--not odd for him, exactly, but when there was some plan or some science going on, especially if it involved Sam and the Tok'ra, he was usually fairly involved. That he wasn't now, and that Jacob hadn't included his name in the plan...

Apparently, Jack had seen it, too, and asked, "Marty? You disagree?"

"There is much risk in this plan," Martouf said.

"You don't have to come--you can go with the rest of the Tok'ra to the temporary base, or go back to the SGC," Sam said, and while she didn't seem to mean it in any way but matter-of-fact honesty, Daniel barely suppressed a wince.

"My concern," Martouf said, sounding as offended as he ever did, "is not for myself."

"Okay, wait," Jack holding up a hand. "What _is_ this plan?"

Daniel had to admit that the apprehensive look Sam exchanged with her father did little for his confidence.

Martouf sighed but pressed something on the screen he was looking at as Jacob explained, "This is the sun Vorash is orbiting. It's a regular main-sequence star with a core temperature of about fifteen million degrees and enough hydrogen to burn for another five billion years."

"Yeah?" Jack said.

Jacob raised his eyebrows. "We wanna blow it up."

XXXXX

**_14 July 2001; Cronus's_ ** **Hatak _; 1400 hrs_**

And so Daniel found himself standing in the _peltak_ of a _hatak_ vessel.

He would have sat instead, but sitting on the floor meant he couldn't see out the window when Apophis arrived in their section of space. There was a chair, too, which served as the throne for the Goa'uld who ruled the ship, but Jack had called 'shotgun' when they'd boarded and, while Daniel, Teal'c, and Martouf took cover and tried to figure out where the gun was, Jack had hopped into the chair.

By the time all the Tok'ra on Vorash had had the chance to board the _hatak_ and evacuate through the Stargate to their temporary base, and by the time Jack had had time to call the SGC and tell General Hammond about the change in plans, Jacob estimated that Apophis would arrive within hours.

Jack wanted to fly the ship. Jacob gave him a look and didn't let him near the controls as they sailed toward the sun. Daniel still had major concerns about flying toward a sun as they tried to suck part of it through a Stargate and into a black hole to make it explode, though, so he really hoped the Carters knew what they were doing.

As Sam and Martouf moved to the cargo bay to deal with the Stargate, Daniel saw Teal'c walk quietly out of the _peltak_ and followed him into the next room.

"Tanith's escape wasn't your fault," Daniel said once he'd found his friend.

Teal'c took a deep breath and released it, like breathing in _kelno'reem_ but standing alert and ready for battle. Finally, he answered, "Twice, I have had the opportunity to avenge the murder of Shan'auc. Twice, I have let Tanith slip through my fingers. I have failed her."

"No," Daniel said immediately. "No, Teal'c--the Tok'ra lost him, not you. You were...very restrained to let him live as long as you did, _because_ ," he continued over Teal'c's glower, "it was the right thing to do. And now...Teal'c, look. Apophis is coming. We're going to destroy Apophis. Teal'c. _Apophis_."

"It will be a great victory," Teal'c said, but it was clear from his tone that Apophis's death would be, to him, unrelated to Tanith's survival. Winning one did not make up for losing another.

Daniel nodded, only able to speak calmly because he didn't dare _really_ hope that Apophis would truly be dead this time, not after everything that had happened before. "Yes. It will."

"And yet," Teal'c said in a low voice, "knowing what Apophis has done to your family, would you not trade it all for the opportunity to crush the life from his throat with your bare hands?"

"I've...thought about it," Daniel said again, because there was no lying to Teal'c about this, "but we have another option that makes more sense. We saw it with Cronus--we have to strike wherever we can, not however we want."

Teal'c looked at the door. "In the future," he warned, "I will not be capable of such restraint."

"Well," Daniel said, "if all goes well, there won't _be_ a future in which you'd need to exercise restraint of any kind on Apophis or Tanith."

_Or Hebron_ , he reminded himself and pushed that thought away to deal with after the sun had exploded and they were safely away. He knew there were more important things at stake now, and Hebron had known it would be a risk. He hated himself a little bit for believing that.

He pushed that firmly away, too.

Then, from wherever the speakers were in the walls of the ship, Jack's voice said, _"Everyone not tossing a Stargate at a sun, get back to the_ peltak _. We're starting now."_

Without another word, Daniel left the room, glad when Teal'c stepped into place next to him and joined him at the bridge. _"...initiating remote dialing sequence,"_ Sam's voice was saying from speakers in the _peltak_.

Jacob leaned over to the communications controls. "Ready when you are, guys," he said.

They waited, holding their breath. And then-- _"Wormhole established,"_ Sam said. _"The 'gate on P3W-451 is still active. The black hole must not have pulled it apart yet."_

_"Engaging force field,"_ Martouf's voice added. _"Opening cargo bay doors."_

_"Releasing the clamps...and...the 'gate is away,"_ Sam said.

With a glance down at the sensors, Jacob said, "'Gate trajectory on course. All right, time to--"

The _hatak_ shuddered.

Grabbing onto the nearest solid structure, Jack said, "What the hell was that?"

Sam and Martouf hurried in just then as Jacob said briskly, "We're under attack. Teal'c--weapons."

Daniel jumped as a console appeared from the floor next to his feet. He backed away, and Teal'c took his place behind the console. "Shields are inoperative," the Jaffa said immediately.

"Can't be Apophis; it's too soon," Jacob said.

"The target is an _al'kesh_ ," Teal'c added. Jack raised his eyebrows at Teal'c, who explained tersely, "A Goa'uld mid-range bomber. Charging weapons... Returning fire."

Daniel held onto the side of the ship, wishing the Goa'uld would at least build ships with handholds if they refused to build chairs. The _al'kesh_ flitted into view for the first time, and Daniel saw a beam strike it even as their own _hatak_ trembled again.

"She's too quick," Jacob said, steadying them. "Here she comes again, Teal'c!"

Teal'c's eyes moved over monitor before him. He fired.

Their ship jerked to the side. Daniel had time to press himself more firmly against the wall before the lights died and plunged them into darkness.

"Jacob?" Jack's voice said from the blackness around them.

Auxiliary lights flickered on enough to illuminate the main monitors and the lights at the window. "They got us pretty good," Jacob said. "We've lost main power. Hyperdrive is down. We're sitting ducks."

"So why aren't we dead?" Daniel asked, frustrated and wishing there were _something_ \--anything--he could do aside from trying to stand in place.

"They took a direct hit," Jacob said. "They might be as damaged as we are."

Before anyone could ask who 'they' were, anyway, Lantash announced from beside Teal'c, "We have no tactical indicators or weapons."

Jacob shook his head and pushed away from the console, moving toward the engine room. "I have to check it out," he said.

"Hey!" Jack said. "Uh--whoa! We've still got an enemy ship out there."

"Sir, when that gate reaches the sun..." Sam started.

"It's not gonna make a difference if we get blown out of the sky!"

"What do you want us to do, Jack?" Jacob said. "We have no weapons or shields. We need our hyperdrive or it won't matter who's shooting at what."

Jack glared at him, clearly very aware of the fact that their ship--the one they'd just won from Cronus--had been damaged, then said abruptly, "Gliders. This ship's got gliders, right?"

"Of course," Jacob said.

Lantash started to move away from his console, perhaps heading for the glider bay, when Jack said, "Ah--Teal'c and I'll handle this one."

"Do you know how to fly an _udajeet_ , Colonel?" Lantash snapped.

" _Can_ you fly one?" Jack snapped back. Lantash clenched his jaw but had to look away. Flying in open space like this, handling delicate controls and chasing an _al'kesh_ through who-knew-where with no set path, was something Martouf really shouldn't do without practice if he couldn't find his way on foot from one end of the ship to the other. "Look--I'll ride in the backseat with Teal'c. Keep an eye on things here."

And then Jack and Teal'c were gone.

Lantash made a violent motion as if to kick the console, then stopped and slowly put his foot back down. It wasn't until he sighed that Daniel realized Martouf was back.

"Martouf--" Sam started.

But Martouf managed a brief, not-quite-bitter smile and said, "Colonel O'Neill is correct. He and Teal'c will be fine, and there is no time to waste."

A minute later, Jack's voice said through their speakers, _"And we're off."_

"We read you, Jack," Jacob answered. "You see the _al'kesh_?"

_"We're pursuing. Stand by."_

Daniel stood by until he could no longer stand standing by and stepped toward the weapons console next to Jacob. The sensors that still worked displayed information in Goa'uld. He supposed that might be why Jack, during his very brief flying lessons on the way to Vorash, had preferred flying by feel and instinct--when one couldn't read the instruments, one had to rely on the view on the other side of the window.

"We're not detecting anything-- _udajeet_ or _al'kesh_ ," Daniel said worriedly, glancing at Jacob.

"Doesn't mean anything," Jacob said tensely. "We've got some sensors down." Daniel nodded and continued looking, making sure to stay out of Jacob's way. Finally, it seemed that Jacob couldn't stand it, either, and he reached toward the communications controls. "Jack, what's happening out there?"

_"They're breaking off,"_ Jack answered.

"So let them go," Jacob said.

There was a long pause. And then Jack said, _"Teal'c thinks the ship might be going to pick up Tanith."_

"Uh-oh," Daniel said, knowing what was going to happen. And since Teal'c was flying...

"That makes sense," Jacob agreed. "He probably had his ship waiting in a nearby system the whole time. That's why they got here so fast."

_"Yeah, well...seems we're going after him."_

"What?" Martouf said.

"You only have a little more than an hour, sir," Sam said urgently.

_"Ah, Carter, relax,"_ Jack said, sounding nervous. _"We'll be back in plenty of time. Right, Teal'c, we'll be back in plenty of time? Buddy?...Pal? Oh god..."_

Jacob made a noise of frustration and backed away. "Martouf--" he started, then looked between him and Sam. "Dammit. Sam, I'm going to need your help with the hyperdrive."

"I can help you with that," Martouf said, looking eager to do something.

"But Sam can't fly this ship," Jacob replied. "You and Daniel take the _peltak_."

"Uh--wh...but--" Daniel said.

"We'll stay in touch," Jacob promised. Sam followed him away.

"I do not know how well I can fly if we need to maneuver," Martouf said once they were alone at the bridge.

Daniel looked at the console. "Well, that could be a problem," he said.

Still, Martouf shook his head and stepped toward him. "Stand here," the Tok'ra instructed, steering him into place behind the controls.

"Martouf?" Daniel said anxiously even as he moved. "What are you doing?"

"Communications," Martouf said, pointing at each panel in turn. "This will broadcast to the ship and..." He paused, his eyes flicking from one set to another. "Or...was this..."

"These must correspond to the ship's levels," Daniel said. "Right? They're arranged the same way as the different rooms..."

"Yes. Yes, that must be correct," Martouf said, reddening very slightly. He moved his hand to the next one. "And this is for external communications--such as to the _udajeet_ or to your radios. Jacob has already set the correct frequencies. You can read?"

Daniel nodded, glad some of the controls were labeled and the others arranged in a logical enough way. "Yes, but--"

"These are the manual controls. One hand here"--Martouf picked up Daniel's hand and placed it on a surprisingly cool, smooth crystal surface--"and your other here. Each one controls a different axis."

"Why are there only two axes?" Daniel said.

"Each control is three-dimensional--one determines engine power and the other governs pitch, yaw, and roll," Martouf said.

"Pitch of...what? And _what_?"

"This one points the ship up, down, right, left," he simplified. "And...rotation around a longitudinal axis. The controls can be moved independently."

"Oh," Daniel said, then frowned and tried to figure out what he was supposed to do if he needed to use one of his hands for something else. "Uh..."

Martouf continued, "This monitor shows other objects expending power, such as ships. Planets and stars' signatures are recalculated and displayed, but the proximity sensors are more accurate for sources that large. Use your eyes and the sensors both, if you can. Keep in mind as you maneuver that the gravity we feel onboard the ship does not apply to our position in space, but the computer should automatically correlate the display with the gravity settings to orient you."

Daniel twisted his hand slightly on one of the main controls, hoping to see the ship turn and wincing as the ship only shuddered.

"That is because we have no engines yet," Martouf assured him. "Your movement is correct."

"Look, Martouf, uh..."

"This will engage the hyperdrive," Martouf said over him. "A destination can be set after entering the window, but be certain that no one follows you through the window."

" _Martouf_!"

"Daniel!" Martouf finally said, looking frustrated as he so rarely did. "It does not have to be elegant. You only need to push the ship in the direction you wish and activate the hyperdrive as soon as it is operational. I will try to tell you if you need to change something, but I cannot..." He made a face, peering out into the blackness outside the window. "My hand-and-eye coordination--the fine controls are beyond my abilities."

"I hate to tell you this," Daniel said, "but the controls might be beyond _my_ abilities, too."

"I will help you," Martouf said, "but until Selmak returns, you will hold the _hatak_."

"You can fly in a straight line," Daniel protested, wondering how much of this was a neurological issue and how much a psychological one. "I'll...crash in a straight line or something."

Martouf gave him a very small smile. "I could, yes. I am not entirely familiar myself with the schematics of this newer class of _hatak_ that Cronus had and fear that I will be unable to adjust quickly enough. I will man some of the controls, and we will help each other."

"It's darker than I realized," Daniel said nervously, looking out the window. "It doesn't seem as dark when someone else is flying."

"Space...is generally dark, yes," Martouf agreed wryly. "But if you can read and understand the schematics and the computer's readings, you can fly the ship without looking outside at all."

Even as they spoke one of the monitors flickered to life, and the lights overhead turned back on.

Reluctantly, Daniel turned back to the monitor, skimmed over the display, and reached to activate the communications between the _peltak_ and engine room.

"Jacob, Sam, we have tactical indicators," Daniel called. "Main engines are back and...main power's charging. Weapons and shields are still down. So is the hyperdrive."

_"We hear you,"_ Jacob's voice answered. _"We're working on the rest of it."_

Martouf took a breath and stepped up next to him.

"They're still pursuing the _al'kesh_ ," Daniel told the Tok'ra, finally able to follow Jack and Teal'c's movements on the screen, now that they had power. He twisted his hand on the control, and this time, the _hatak_ turned to face in the direction of Vorash. He overshot and had to turn back more slowly, but in any case, both ships were out of sight by eye. "They're...I think they're close to the planet now."

"Then it was indeed moving toward Tanith," Martouf observed. When they'd been staring for a while, he suggested, "Perhaps we should move closer to Vorash. Our shields should be repaired by the time we arrive, and we will be able to escape more quickly if we are closer to Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c. There is no reason for us to linger near the sun, and you can practice maneuvering. Trust me--it is not as difficult as you imagine."

"Okay," Daniel said. He looked up out the window, then back down at the screen. "Okay," he repeated, then carefully slid his hand forward.

He barely felt them moving, but then, that was what all the dampening and artificial gravity systems were for. A glance at the monitor showed them approaching the planet in something vaguely resembling a straight line. A tiny twitch of his finger made them wobble, and he hastily fixed their path.

"Good," Martouf said. "Do you see your velocity?"

It took a while to find it on the side screen, but finally, Daniel said, "Yeah...but I don't really know how fast seven percent of light speed actually is."

"Do not worry. I have the other acceleration controls. I will adjust as necessary."

Daniel nodded, unable to hold back a wince as he saw their ship pick up speed relative to the other two ships, which were now practically on top of the planet on the monitors.

"We are still fine," Martouf assured him. "This ship is capable of travelling far faster than this without damage."

"I'm more concerned about how fast I need to _steer_ to avoid damage," Daniel told him.

Martouf smiled briefly, even looking amused. "Relax," he said. "Nothing will happen."

He wasn't even bothering to try to orient himself looking out the window or at the graphical displays like Daniel was doing; instead, he controlled their speed by numerical readings on the monitor alone. Jack had told Daniel once that flying without readings from the instruments on an aircraft was like flying blind; Daniel supposed that relying on numbers and a human copilot for someone used to relying on the view outside and other schematics and himself must be nearly as difficult.

"Do not watch me," Martouf admonished, and Daniel snapped his eyes back to his own screen, glancing up occasionally at the window. With Martouf trying to compensate for Daniel's wobbles by adjusting the output from each engine, and with Daniel compensating for the _over_ compensation by steering back just slightly...well, it was bumpy, but they eventually settled into a tense rhythm of shifting hands and glances and made their careful way toward Vorash.

They had almost reached the planet by the time everything went wrong again.

Suddenly, from the speaker, Jack's voice said, _"Mayday, mayday--we are_ so _goin' in!"_

Daniel slapped a hand over the external communications. "Jack? Can you hear me?" No one answered. "Jack, we can't hear you. What's going on?" Still nothing. "Jack!"

A hum started. "Weapons and shields are up," Martouf said, but the speaker stayed silent.

Unsure what to do, Daniel looked back at this screen, noted that all systems aside from the hyperdrive were back, and said, "Where are they? I don't see them."

"Our _hatak_ does not detect any other ship," Martouf said.

"But--"

"They have either landed and turned off power," Martouf said, "or they engaged a cloak--"

"The _udajeet_ don't have cloaks!"

"--or they have been too badly damaged to show on our sensors."

"Jack!" Daniel tried again. "Teal'c!"

Martouf slowed their movement and said tersely, "Engine room." Daniel activated the right switch on the communications panel, and Martouf called, "Jacob?"

_"Go ahead, Martouf,"_ Jacob said. _"Is the power back on?"_

"Yes, as are shields and weapons. However, we received a distress call from Colonel O'Neill," Martouf said. "We no longer detect either of the ships."

_"What's going on?"_ Sam's voice answered. _"What'd he say?"_

"The transmission was lost before we could learn more."

Silence answered them. Daniel looked out the window and then glanced toward Vorash again. "We're going to find them," he said, and, powering the engines again, slid the ship forward. Martouf tensed and returned to man those controls but didn't tell him to stop or otherwise argue.

_"Whoa--where are we going?"_ Jacob's voice barked.

"We're going back for them," Daniel called back. "We're practically there anyway."

_"Daniel--"_ Jacob started, but Sam spoke over him.

_"Dad, we have to,"_ she insisted. _"There's still time. Guys, we need to fix the hyperdrive--can you handle it up there until we're done?"_

To Daniel's relief, Lantash emerged and agreed, "We can. Jacob, our weapons and shields are superior to those of the _al'kesh_. You must finish repairing the hyperdrive."

There was a pause, and then-- _"All right,"_ Jacob said. _"We'll finish here."_

Daniel looked down at the monitor that showed their speed. "Is that fast or slow?" he asked as he tried very hard not to twitch his hands at all.

"Too fast," Lantash said, but his was still the hand on the engine's controls, and he didn't change their course. There was a note of anticipation in his voice, too, while Martouf had stayed wary. As they glided the rest of the short distance, Daniel wondered if Martouf could tell how much Lantash missed the action.

By the time they were in orbit over Vorash, though, Lantash was scowling fiercely at the monitors and had slowed them down considerably. Daniel wished they'd had a chance to have a lesson about landing and entering atmosphere, too, and was debating whether to let the Tok'ra take over completely before they had to deal with that.

Suddenly, a flashing message appeared on one of the monitors. "What does that warning mean?" Daniel said.

"What does it say?" Lantash said, not looking away, his face a picture of concentration.

"It says, 'warning, warning,'" Daniel said. Lantash finally glanced over and then growled a curse.

_"Hyperdrive's almost back,"_ Jacob called. _"Don't crash before we get there!"_

"We are directly over Vorash," Lantash broadcast to the ship. "Sensors show that Apophis has arrived."

"Oh," Daniel said.

Sam ran into the _peltak_. "Dad's finishing; he'll be right up," she said.

"Apophis's ships will come this way soon if he detects us," Lantash said.

"Okay, stay here and try to raise them again," she said. "Daniel, with me."

Not sure what they were doing, Daniel followed her out of the bridge. She ducked into a nearby room first, and Daniel just barely caught a tac vest as she tossed it at him. "What, are we going out there?" he said even as he hurried to pull it on.

"Yeah--they might be hurt," she answered, zipping her vest shut and picking up a submachine gun. "Get to the ring room."

"What are you two doing?" Jacob said as he passed them on his way to the _peltak_.

"Just get us into position over the rings on Vorash, Dad," she called back, not stopping as she handed another gun to Daniel. He zipped his vest shut as fast as possible while running back into the corridor after her.

"Sam! There's no time--"

Ignoring him, they skidded together into the ring room. "Be ready as soon as we hit the surface," she told him. Daniel stepped onto the platform, quickly checking that his gun was set to automatic. Sam hit the combination at the panel and joined him. "Get down." Daniel crouched, raising his gun and hearing her move behind him. "Dad, we'll be right back!" she yelled.

The sound of rings drowned out whatever Jacob was yelling at them from the speakers.

Except they landed not on Vorash, but in the _peltak_ of another ship.

"What the...?" Daniel said, looking around frantically and only slightly relieved when he didn't see anyone. His eyes caught on a familiar symbol, though... "Sam--this is one of Apophis's _al'kesh_. How did we get onto--?"

"It must've come for Tanith to pick him up after the other _al'kesh_ crashed," she said, standing up. "If it was cloaked and hovering between our ship and Vorash, our matter stream would've been intercepted."

"But no one's here. If they came for Tanith, he should be _here_."

"Tanith and whoever flew this ship must be waiting below--oh, damn," she said. "If Tanith's still down there and hasn't ringed up, there must be a reason. The colonel and Teal'c don't know about the reinforcements--"

"Ambush," he realized.

"Yeah. Think we could fly this down to the surface?" she said.

Daniel's eyebrows shot up. Sam hadn't had much more time to learn how to fly a ship than he had. "Not if we want to survive the landing. Use the rings."

"Right--stay there," she said, hurrying off the ring platform and toward the console to set the controls for the rings again. "Three..."--she ran back onto the platform--"two...one..."

This time, they landed on familiar sand, staring at the familiar sun they were trying to destroy. There was no one anywhere in front of him.

Gunfire sounded from behind, though--Sam.

Daniel whirled around. There were two Jaffa, and one was already dead-- _Serpent mark, Apophis_ \--and he didn't even have a chance to open fire before Sam felled the other, too.

She whipped back around and stood, placing them back-to-back again. "You see Tanith?" she said.

"No," Daniel said, standing, squinting across the sandy landscape.

"Keep your eyes open and radio the colonel," she said.

Daniel braced his gun against his shoulder and reached up to his radio with his left hand. "Jack, Teal'c, do you read?"

No answer.

"Jack, this is Daniel. Come in."

_"Yeah, we're here!"_ Jack's voice answered, strident with annoyance, and Daniel felt himself start to lower his weapon in relief. _"Thanks for checking in!"_

"We're on the planet. There was an ambush waiting for you at the rings--hurry up! Apophis is _here_!"

There was a tiny pause, and then, _"We're almost--"_

"Daniel!" Sam yelled.

Her body slammed into him, knocking him to the sand, and only hours of practice let him hold onto his gun as he landed. Before he could recover, her weight disappeared and she opened fire. He heard a _zat'nik'tel_ as he turned to look for what she was shooting at.

Tanith was half-hidden behind a large rock, the one Daniel often used as a landmark to remember where the rings were. "Go!" Sam said, jerking her head toward a sand dune and raising her gun again.

Daniel scrambled to cover, then called, "Sam, now!" and rose over top just enough to lay down cover fire in Tanith's direction.

He thought he might have even hit, but he couldn't be sure, since Tanith dropped back out of range. He stopped shooting for a second. Tanith's head appeared again around the stone, and Daniel squeezed the trigger again, squinting past the sun's glare until the Goa'uld ducked away.

Then Sam joined him, and by the time Tanith stuck his hand out with the zat again, both of them were safely behind the dune. Sam grabbed him and pulled him back down. "You okay?" she asked breathlessly.

"Yeah," he said, too flushed with adrenaline to really feel anything yet. He looked sharply at her. "You?"

"Fine. We've gotta--"

The sound of rings came from beyond them.

"No-- _no_!" Daniel said, rising up again to see Tanith on the platform. He fired, and he could see now that there was a spot of red on the Goa'uld's shoulder, but the wound clearly wasn't fatal, because Tanith was still standing when he disappeared in a beam of white.

"...you hear me, Dad?" Sam was saying into her radio.

The response was immediate. _"We have to go,"_ Jacob said. _"They're closing in."_

"Tanith just ringed onto his ship--it might be cloaked and nearby," she said. She glanced at Daniel, who had to shake his head. "We couldn't stop him."

_"Doesn't matter,"_ Jacob answered impatiently. _"He'll blow up anyway, and Apophis is what counts. Now get back here! The sun's going supernova in three and a half minutes,_ if _we're lucky!"_

"I see them!" Daniel said, shading his eyes and pointing into the distance and hoping the two dots he saw were their teammates. He stepped out from behind their dune, waving his arms. "Jack, Teal'c!" he yelled once he'd looked around to check that there was no one else left on this planet. He keyed his radio again to say, "Hurry--the sun's about to explode and Apophis is flying here right now!"

_"We're coming!"_ Jack answered, out of breath.

Sam pushed herself to her feet, telling her father on the other channel, "Give us a minute, Dad."

_"We don't have extra minutes, Sam!"_ Jacob snapped.

Jack and Teal'c were sprinting toward them. Sam followed Daniel to the ring platform. "We're not gonna make it," she said, glancing nervously at the sun.

"Come on," Daniel muttered, gesturing to Jack and Teal'c to hurry.

He counted another forty-two seconds before all four of them were piled on the platform. "Go," Jack gasped.

"Go!" Sam repeated into her radio, and the rings shot back up around them.

They found Martouf waiting for them when they arrived on the _hatak_ \--there was no _al'kesh_ in the way this time. "Tanith's ship must be gone--" Daniel said.

"Ship?" Jack repeated.

"Tanith?" Teal'c repeated.

"Gone," Martouf echoed with a stern look at the Jaffa. "Jacob--go!"

_"Engaging hyperdrive,"_ Jacob's voice said.

They were jerked into the wall as they entered hyperspeed, and, regaining their balance, staggered back toward the _peltak_.

When they arrived, though, they jerked forward again. Daniel frowned, looking out the window, and saw the normal darkness of space, not hyperspace.

"Did we just drop out?" Sam said. "What happened?"

Jacob glanced back and skimmed over all of them. He caught Teal'c's eye and jerked his head to the console. As the Jaffa went to examine the monitors with him, he said, "We must've caught the tail end of the blast wave. It knocked us off course."

"The navigational systems..." Teal'c started, then, uncharacteristically, stopped.

"What?" Daniel said warily.

Teal'c exchanged a glance with Jacob, who said, "According to these readings, we've travelled over four million light years."

"That's impossible," Sam said immediately before Daniel could ask just how far that was.

"It is not even that far from one end of the galaxy to the other," Martouf added, which told Daniel that it was very, very far.

"The explosion might have somehow affected the subspace window created by the hyperdrive," Sam offered.

"Wait--wait a minute," Jack said. "What are you saying? We can't get back? It only took us a few seconds to get here."

"The ship isn't normally capable of going so fast," Jacob said. "Given our position and maximum hyperdrive speed without a supernova at our backs, it's going to take us 125 _years_ to get back."

Daniel felt his jaw fall open, but before he could say anything, Teal'c said, "Our long-range sensors are detecting another ship."

Then a window opened, and a ship dropped into view.

"It's Apophis," Jacob said.


	28. Apophis

**_14 July 2001; Cronus's_ ** **Hatak _; 1800 hrs_**

There were times--many times--when Daniel wished Apophis would just die like any normal person. Usually, he meant it in the sense that Apophis really deserved to die, but occasionally, it was simply tiring to find that they'd somehow failed yet _again_ to kill him.

Daniel had thought it incredible that people could artificially blow up a sun by sucking enough of its mass away into a black hole. Sam wouldn't say it, but he knew she was the one who had done most of the calculations and was secretly proud of the fact that she'd predicted everything correctly to the last few minutes. It was an impressive feat.

But blowing up a sun was one thing. _Surviving_ a sun as it blew up, on the other hand... If Daniel hadn't been so frustrated about the fact that Apophis simply _wasn't dead again_ , he might have found that rather impressive, too.

The fact that Apophis was trying to blow them up in return didn't help his opinion, though.

"He's arming weapons," Jacob said.

"Shields?" Jack said.

"Inoperable," Teal'c said, still at the console.

"Wouldn't do any good against a ship like that anyway," Jacob added.

"Hyperdrive," Sam suggested.

Jacob shook his head again. "Not responding. The blast that propelled us here did some damage."

"Talk to him," Daniel said, because they didn't have much else to try, and sometimes it worked.

"Yeah, and say what?"

Daniel thought fast for something good to say and offered, "Don't shoot?"

Jack gave him a look.

Martouf sighed. Daniel suspected that, if he'd been anything less than an abnormally calm Tok'ra, he would have been reminding everyone right now that he'd _told_ them blowing up the sun could end badly.

They were out of options, though, so, after shaking his head, Jacob dipped his head to let Selmak take over and hit the communications channel. " _Kree Apophis onak,_ " Selmak said. " _Tal mak Tok'ra Selmak, neetra hok hatak._ "

"Greetings, Lord Apophis," Daniel translated quietly for Jack and Sam. "I am the Tok'ra Selmak, commander of this _hatak_."

"Commander?" Jack repeated.

Jacob glanced at him. "You wanna bicker about rank right now?"

A video display replaced their view of the space outside, and Apophis's face appeared on the screen. Daniel felt himself leaning closer as he saw Apophis for the first time since the System Lord had died at the SGC and wondered suddenly where and why he had gotten the odd piece of metal on his cheek. He hoped it was a necessary prosthetic, because that would mean there were at least _some_ small prices for having survived so much. It made Daniel feel a little better--it was proof that the man _wasn't_ completely invulnerable after all.

But Apophis seemed just as confident as ever--if considerably more angry--when he answered, " _Onak rak, shel Apophis._ "

"He's looking a little pissed," Jack commented.

"We did just destroy his fleet," Sam pointed out.

" _Rak lo--najakuna,_ " Apophis went on. " _Shel ri hara kek!_ "

"He says it's time for us to die," Daniel said.

Selmak answered, followed quickly by Martouf, striking up a rapid conversation between all three that Daniel and Teal'c together just barely managed to translate for Jack and Sam.

"Martouf says we're both too far off-course," Daniel said.

"Apophis says he knows all," Teal'c said. Jack rolled his eyes. "There is nothing we can do to help him. He plans to destroy us."

Apophis smirked, fixing his eyes on Teal'c as he said, " _Tau'ri rak shol'va_."

" _Ne'nae_!" Daniel snapped at Apophis's face. " _Shal nok!_ "

"He will spare all of you in exchange for me," Teal'c said.

"Not acceptable," Jack said.

" _Ne'nae_ ," Daniel said again. " _Ona'i tal bet._ "

"And now," Jacob sighed, as if resigned to their fate already, "Daniel's just surrendered to him."

Everyone glared at Daniel. "I'm trying to buy some time," he said defensively. "What, you have a better idea?"

"Frankly," Jacob admitted, "handing over Teal'c isn't going to help us _or_ him, which means--"

" _Kla mel ha rak_ ," Apophis answered.

"What'd he say?" Sam asked.

"Too late," Daniel answered. The image of Apophis disappeared, leaving them to stare at the other _hatak_ as it hovered before them.

Jacob didn't move. Neither did Martouf. Actually, no one did but Jack, who took a step forward and then back, and Teal'c, whose jaw muscle was actually twitching with restrained fury.

At least it would probably be fast.

Sometime after Heru-ur's death, Daniel had asked Sam why the ships had exploded so spectacularly upon impact if the missile was so small or so focused. She'd said something about high oxygen levels and naquadah and the consumption of something when it did something to the something. The point was that it would be a quick, if briefly very painful, death. His previous experiences with dying hadn't seemed too bad, really, aside from the physical pain before it, but he preferred to avoid drawing the process out this time around.

And if there was a part of him that wanted to scream in fury that it was Apophis who would kill him, after everything Apophis had taken from them already...well. There was nothing they could do now. The great path, Shifu had said. Daniel could be okay with that if he had to be.

But when nothing happened, Jack shuffled a foot impatiently and said, "Can't stand it. What's he waiting for?"

Without warning, Apophis's ship turned and fired. Daniel flinched...but nothing hit them.

"Did he just...miss?" Jack said, suddenly unmoving as if twitching would break the spell.

"We're not hit," Sam said. "What happened?"

"The sensors are detecting another ship," Teal'c said from the weapons console. "It is approaching quickly and has engaged Apophis's ship."

Without another word, Jacob reached toward what Daniel now recognized as the acceleration controls, powered the engines, and pushed the ship forward.

"What are you doing?" Sam said.

"Getting the hell out of here," Jacob answered, and then they shot away. Daniel looked back as they went and saw fire still being exchanged before they pulled out of sight.

"Why did it only shoot Apophis?" Daniel said, craning his neck around and deciding they must be well out of range of both ships now.

"Our computers did not recognize that type of ship," Teal'c said. "If we are truly so far away from our galaxy, then it is likely they also did not recognize _us_."

"However," Martouf added, "they may have recognized that Apophis's ship was the greater threat."

"We may still find out," Jacob said. "We're not going to get far on sublight engines. Whoever wins the fight will probably come looking for us."

An image appeared on the screen. " _Now_ what are you doing?" Sam said warily.

Jacob studied it for a moment--it was a map of some sort--then said, "This system revolves around a blue giant. If we can move close enough to the sun's corona, the radiation should keep us off their sensors."

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Excuse me? Radiation?"

"The ship's hull will protect us," Jacob assured him, then added, "...for about an hour."

"Oh," Daniel said. "Good."

"But if we get the shields up..." Sam started, looking to her father and Martouf.

Martouf nodded. "It would extend that hour and give us time to repair our other systems."

"Start with the shields," Jack suggested, and the three of them hurried away from the _peltak_.

XXXXX

**_15 July 2001; Cronus's_ ** **Hatak _; 0300 hrs_**

Nine hours later, when they had inventoried their whole inventory, gathered all their supplies, and checked all there was to check, Daniel said, "Traveling with Sam and two Tok'ra makes me feel dumb."

"Gee," Jack said, sprawled over the chair Cronus had used as his throne. "Thanks."

"Not that I think you guys are dumb," Daniel told him and Teal'c. "Unless we need to fix circuits, in which case..." He waved a hand to encompass all three of them. "But nine hours of doing nothing, Jack."

"Your brain eat itself yet?"

"It's trying."

Jack checked his watch. "Well...we've still got about an hour to go, so you can't lose it yet."

Daniel sighed, turned to fold his arms on the steps leading to the command chair, and dropped his head on top of them. More seriously, he said, "You think this is it for us, this time?"

"No," Jack said. It sounded like a halfhearted lie, though Daniel didn't know if it was Jack's voice or his own ears that made it so.

"We have yet to find a solution," Teal'c said neutrally. "Even if the hyperdrive is fixed, we will need 125 years to return home."

"Won't we run out of supplies and life support first?" Daniel said, because of _course_ that was what was important when they were stuck in space for over a century.

" _Hatak_ vessels are well-stocked for long journeys," Teal'c said. "We could live many years."

"See?" Jack said. "Many years."

This time, Daniel had to shake his head. "Teal'c's symbiote will mature sooner."

"We're not actually going to be here _years_ ," Jack scoffed. "He's just saying we could last that long if we have to."

"Of course," Daniel said, "then there's Apophis and that other ship he was fighting. Either they'll kill us or the sun will in about an hour, so we won't even have to worry about Teal'c's symbiote."

"We're not dying," Jack said exasperatedly, because it was his job to order them not to die so they could think of solutions to make them not die. "For cryin' out loud. That's the problem with letting your brain get bored. Go to sleep."

Daniel snorted.

"Even if Apophis survives the battle with the other ship," Teal'c said, "his _hatak_ will be damaged. We should prepare ourselves to engage in combat with him immediately should he emerge as the victor, before he is able to repair the damage to his _hatak_."

"Yeah..." Jack said, "...unless it's _badly_ damaged, Apophis just going to shoot back, and frankly, I don't think we'd survive that."

"We might," Daniel said.

Teal'c raised his chin. "The shields even of his _hatak_ cannot withstand an impact like that of another _hatak_."

Jack sat up properly in the chair and looked from Teal'c, standing in front of him, to Daniel, sitting near his feet. "You want to crash into him. Dammit, Teal'c, did you forget what happened on Vorash just now? One of these days you're gonna crash a ship and end up dead."

"Well...does it really matter?" Daniel said. He glanced out the window into the blackness, illuminated from behind them by the sun. "We're just going to die on this ship, anyway, in an hour or twenty years. What difference does it make?"

"One way we're alive," Jack said, "and the other we're dead. Difference."

"And," Teal'c pointed out, "one way, Apophis dies. One hundred years makes no difference to a Goa'uld."

Daniel nodded agreement. "Apophis rose literally from the dead with nothing to his name--not _even_ his name--and became the most powerful System Lord in the space of a year. If we let him live, in control of a ship-- _hatak_ , _teltak_ , _al'kesh_ , anything with a hyperdrive, especially if he has a sarcophagus on his ship somewhere..."

"He'll get back to the good ol' Milky Way sooner or later," Jack sighed.

"It is also possible that Apophis did not survive the battle with the alien ship," Teal'c offered. "He appeared very threatened by its attacks."

Daniel dropped his head back onto his arms. "If Apophis is dead..."

He almost said that he wouldn't mind dying if it meant Apophis would be dead, too, but the words shriveled in his throat. Now that he was facing the prospect again without the jagged edges of adrenaline, even though he couldn't think of anything to circumvent it, he very much didn't want to die. It had been a long time since he'd really expected to have a quiet, peaceful death, and compared to the now-familiar risk of falling in battle, the idea of floating futilely toward home for years before lying down and dying of old age was so much more terrifying.

"I should have brought a book," he heard himself say. "It's going to be a boring 125 years."

Jack rolled his eyes, but he reached down to set a hand on Daniel's shoulder. "There's always a way," he said.

"Sometimes there's not," Daniel said.

"Well, it's not _my_ job to be smart," Jack said. "Go think."

"Make up your mind," Daniel said, feeling a smile trying to creep up on him. "Think or sleep?"

"Whatever," Jack said. "Just do it quietly."

Daniel tapped his fingers on the steps to the chair, idly tracing the lines on each. He laughed suddenly.

"What?" Jack said.

"It's funny," he said. "SG-1 never seems to die, and now...including the ones from Harlan's planet, well, that's two sets of SG-1 within..." He checked his watch. "Less than a week."

"That's not funny," Jack said.

The smile dropped off Daniel's face. Teal'c didn't seem to find it funny, either. "It was funnier in my head," he admitted. Jack extracted a rubber ball from his pocket and bounced it on Daniel's head. "Ow! Jack, what the... Why--why do you even have a--"

"Daniel," Jack said, collecting his ball and wedging it into a corner of the _peltak_ , "some of the stuff in your head should just stay there and never, ever come out."

"Imagine hearing me talk for the next century," Daniel said, rubbing his head but still a little amused despite the situation.

"In that case," Teal'c said seriously, "should we survive long enough to enter hyperspace, I may be the fortunate one among us. My symbiote will expire long before then."

For some reason, _that_ was funny, too, and this time even Jack grinned along with Daniel.

Looking satisfied, Jack stood and stretched. "Is it warm?" he said. Daniel only then realized that there was sweat on his face and starting to glue his clothes to his skin. Reaching for the communications panel, Jack called, "Hey, uh...it's getting a little hot up here, kids."

Daniel stood and stretched his legs, too, deciding it was time to stop moping and get ready to act, whether it was jumping into hyperspace or preparing for a suicide run against Apophis. Teal'c was already at the console with Jack. "We have weapons and shields," Teal'c added. "The hyperdrive still appears to be inoperable."

_"Yeah, we're coming back up,"_ Jacob's voice answered. _"Sit tight for a minute."_

...x...

The hyperdrive didn't work no matter what anyone tried, so Daniel supposed he'd been worrying needlessly about the boredom of the trip back.

No one liked the idea of killing themselves to kill Apophis, but everyone liked the idea of making sure Apophis died and stayed dead one way or another. Finally, Jack said, "Let's cross that bridge when we get to it," and Jacob steered them away from the sun.

"Sensors are coming back online," Jacob said. "Picking up one ship..." He glanced up at the window, then back down. "It's Apophis."

Daniel valiantly didn't groan. Jack did. "What about the other one?" Jack asked.

"Can't see it anywhere."

"If Apophis is out there, why isn't he attacking us?" Daniel said.

Jacob shook his head. "He should be able to see us, but his ship's not moving."

"Maybe his ship was damaged in the battle," Sam suggested.

"No," Teal'c said, still at the console with Jacob. "There are no life signs detected on the _hatak_."

"So..." Jack started, then stopped, frowning.

"So Apophis lost the fight, and then the other ship...ran away?" Daniel said, confused.

"We should check it out," Jacob said.

"What?" Jack said.

"Apophis's ship is superior to this one," Teal'c said. "It is faster and has more advanced weaponry and shielding technology. If it has merely been damaged and can be repaired..."

"Meaning we actually have to go over there," Sam said, not looking enthusiastic.

Jacob was already steering their _hatak_ toward Apophis's ship. "We can ring over."

"Yeah...look, they still lost to that other ship," Jack pointed out. "What happens if the other guys come back while we're over on Apophis's ship playing handyman?"

"We have no hyperdrive, Jack," Jacob said. "If the other ship returns before we can take over Apophis's ship or repair our own, it won't matter where we are. Besides," he added, "I would never let you play handyman. You just carry your gun and look scary."

"Uh, wait," Daniel said as they neared Apophis's ship. "What's the plan again? Is there a plan?"

Jack took a look around them all where they were gathered in the _peltak_ , assessing each of them. "You and Martouf take the _peltak_ ," he finally said. "The rest of us will head over, take a look around--"

"Grab spare crystals for repairs if we can't patch that ship up," Jacob put in.

"--and stay in touch with you guys," Jack finished. Daniel bit down on a protest, knowing that the four others were the most physically able and experienced, while someone needed to stay in this ship and neither Daniel nor Martouf wanted to do it alone. "Carter-- _Major_ Carter and Teal'c, let's get the weapons and gear. We'll get yours too, Jacob," he added.

"Yeah, okay," Jacob said absently, pulling in close to Apophis's ship and slowing them to a stop as Jack led Sam and Teal'c out of the _peltak_. "All right," Jacob said, turning to Daniel and Martouf. "I've locked onto the rings on Apophis's ship. Keep the channel open, and if we need help getting out for whatever reason--"

"Rings," Daniel said obediently, pointing to the correct controls on the main console. "Engines."

"Weapons," Martouf added, pointing to the other console.

"Aw," Jacob said, smirking at them, and then powered down the main engines and ran out of the _peltak_ and toward the ring room before they could answer.

Martouf shrugged, shared the console with Daniel, and pointed to the screen. "Where is the ring chamber?"

"Uh..." Daniel said, scanning over the schematics and finding that it was easier now that he knew generally what he was looking at. "Right here," he said finally, tapping a section of the screen. "It would be down this hall and around this way..."

He paused when he saw Martouf with a sheet of paper and one of Daniel's pens, sketching a rough copy of the schematics and scribbling in the location of each part of the ship. At the top of the sheet was what looked like a list written in messy shorthand, containing details and reminders from the events of the last two days.

"What level is this screen showing?" Martouf asked as he filled in his diagram.

"Uh...top," Daniel said. " _Peltak_ level."

Finally, Martouf glanced up from his memory aid and said, "Do not mind me. Here--you can change this display to monitor the others' progress. You will see our own rings activate, and life signs should be detected on Apophis's ship once they have been transported there."

_"We're off,"_ Jack's voice said.

"Good luck," Daniel called back. "Stay online."

A second later, the ring chamber on the monitor flashed once. _"And we're in,"_ Jack said, more quietly this time. _"Moving out now."_

Daniel frowned at the screen until he found how to change the display from one ship to another, then told Martouf, "Okay-- _now_ we're detecting life signs on the other ship. It should be just them there, right?"

"There is no one else still alive there," Martouf agreed.

Daniel nodded, trying to convince himself that that meant everything would go fine. "So as long as there isn't...I don't know, a bomb on the ship or--"

"In fact," Martouf said, finishing his diagram and setting Daniel's pen carefully in a vest on the floor. "I would not be surprised if there were a self-destruct mechanism on Apophis's ship."

" _What_?"

"Selmak knows this also," Martouf said in a reassuring tone.

Daniel tried to follow the movements of the life signs on the other ship, but couldn't pinpoint their exact location as anything more than an approximate blob. "This is...what, a temperature sensor? If it can detect life signs..."

"The ship detects heat, yes," Martouf said, nodding. "Some also have optical sensors--certain...molecules in a living body respond to light in different ways from molecules in nonliving objects. These signals are combined, and the readings from the rest of the ship are continually averaged and subtracted to yield what we see."

"So that's them," Daniel said, watching the group of his friends split up, moving in opposite directions. "Where are they heading?"

Martouf shook his head. "Without the designs for a ship as new as Apophis's, the computer has no way of knowing any more than that they are within the ship."

So Daniel resigned himself to waiting.

Eventually, though, after they had had no news for several minutes, Daniel gave in and called out, "Hello? What's going on?"

The sound of someone breathing hard came through the speaker, and then Sam's voice-- _"The ship's crawling with Replicators."_

Daniel sucked in a breath. "No life signs," he said to himself, thinking furiously. "We're in another galaxy..."

"Replicators?" Martouf said, looking confused. Even Jacob probably only knew what Replicators were because Sam had mentioned them to him.

"They're a...a mechanical life form," Daniel explained. "The ones we've seen before looked like metallic spiders and insects, but they can take any form, and they constantly Replicate using the material around them. Incredibly dangerous and...and hard to eliminate entirely."

_"Major Carter,"_ Teal'c's voice said, _"Selmak was unable to disengage the auto-destruct."_

So there _was_ an auto-destruct. The ones one base were often set to five minutes. Daniel glanced at his watch--minutes were counted differently on different planets, of course--and tried not to imagine more than he knew.

_"Meet us back at the ring room,"_ Jack ordered.

_"I'm still going to try and get the crystals,"_ Sam added.

_"You have three minutes,"_ Jacob said, which answered Daniel's question. _"Daniel, Martouf, you're going to have to fly that ship out of here as soon as we ring aboard. Can you do that?"_

"We will be ready," Martouf said.

"Um," Daniel said.

Martouf turned a switch on his side of the console. The hum of engines started again. "Turn the _hatak_ around, away from Apophis's ship," he said, reminding, "You will need to rely on the monitors when the other ship leaves our view from the window."

"Okay," Daniel said. He set his hands where he'd been instructed before, at Vorash. He started to turn, but something dipped and they nosed downward--or what looked downward to them--instead. He winced and eased on the lateral steering mechanism, pulling back upward.

"One of the secondary engines is not at full power and is pushing us at an angle," Martouf said. "For now, you must correct it manually."

"Right," Daniel said, trying to hold both hands in the same position. When the screen showed that they were facing away, he said, "Okay, we're turned."

_"Got the crystals,"_ Sam's voice said. _"Dad, Teal'c, we're on our way."_

"When they arrive," Martouf told him, "hold your left hand where it is now"--Daniel's left hand began to itch on cue--"and push forward firmly with your right."

While they waited, Daniel eased the ship forward slightly, finding the angle needed to correct for the malfunctioning engine, until they were as far as they could get while still remaining in range of the rings.

"Do you still see their progress?" Martouf said.

Daniel's eyes snapped back to the view of Apophis's _hatak_. "They're still there. The rings haven't activated."

"When you see them arrive on our ship, go immediately."

_"Sam, Jack, one minute!"_ Jacob was saying.

When no one answered, Teal'c tried, _"O'Neill! Major Carter! Do you--"_

The sharp rattle of gunfire came over the radio. "Hey!" Daniel radioed. "What's going on?"

_"Rings, rings!"_ Jack's voice yelled.

Daniel stared hard at the schematics, waiting for the life signs to jump from one ship to the other... "They're onboard!" he said.

"Now," Lantash said.

Daniel shoved the control forward as hard as he could. Lantash powered something on, their timing just off so that they wobbled a little, but they steadied. And then they were moving, fast and getting faster...

"...won't matter if they get control of the ship!" Sam was saying from just outside in the hall.

"Hey!" Jack yelled back breathlessly. "You guys are just being too negative!"

"We're not going to make it!" Jacob insisted as all four of them barreled in together.

"We're going as fast as we can!" Daniel said, looking from one monitor to the other and focusing on the fact that they were still moving _away_ from Apophis's ship, which was good.

Then Jacob was behind him, peering between him and Lantash's shoulders to see the monitor. Suddenly, the mark that represented Apophis's ship blinked, flashing bright--

"The self-destruct," Lantash said.

"Shut down the engines and divert full power to shields!" Jacob ordered.

Lantash slammed the engines off. Daniel moved out of the way, and Jacob took his place, adjusting the controls.

The floor shifted under their feet. Daniel caught the wall as he felt the entire ship jolt. Outside the window, he thought he saw a tongue of flame before it flickered out and debris flew past them.

Then nothing happened.

"That was close," Jacob said, letting out a breath.

Taking that as his cue, Daniel sighed in relief. Jacob flipped the engine power back on and turned the ship around so they could see the wreckage that had once been Apophis's _hatak_.

"Sam, Martouf," Jacob said, stepping away from the controls, "engine room. We need to get the hyperdrive running before another Replicator-infested ship finds us. You three hold the _peltak_."

"We need to talk about the thing where this is _my ship!_ " Jack called after them. Jacob raised an eyebrow at him and continued on toward the engine room.

...x...

The sound of a warning made Daniel miss the ball Jack tossed to him. "You're supposed to catch it," Jack said, but Teal'c stepped up to the console. Daniel kicked the fallen ball back in Jack's direction and followed the Jaffa.

"The sensors have detected a _teltak_ ," Teal'c said.

"We didn't have any of those on this ship, did we?" Daniel said, turning to Jack.

"No. Someone must've escaped Apophis's mothership before the bugs took over," Jack said, all levity gone. He reached for the communications panel. "Hey, guys," he called into the engine room, "we have a Goa'uld cargo ship on the sensors."

There was a pause, and then, _"Hyperdrive's almost back, sir,"_ Sam said. _"We're coming up."_

"Did you see Apophis's body on his ship?" Daniel said, tamping down frustration that Apophis had had a sun blow up near him and then lost a battle to Replicators in the middle of space and might _still_ be alive.

"Didn't have time to check every body before the ship blew," Jack pointed out.

"We have weapons," Teal'c said, turning the ship slightly. Daniel glanced at the monitor and realized he was going to give chase. "That _teltak_ is unlikely to have any defenses that can overcome an attack."

"There are life signs onboard," Daniel confirmed, looking back toward the entrance and glad to see Jacob walk in.

Teal'c didn't look up. "We must destroy it--if Apophis is on that ship, he cannot be allowed to escape and eventually return to Earth."

"A _teltak_ wouldn't hold enough supplies to last the trip back to the Milky Way," Jacob said. "Apophis might not be there at all."

"Apophis has survived a lot," Daniel reminded him, the old, bitter yearning for Apophis's death churning again in his gut. "If he's in that _teltak_... The more time he has, the more chance he has to find some other solution."

Jack tilted his head. "Can't hurt. What's he gonna do to us that our shields can't withstand?"

"Good point," Jacob admitted as Sam and Martouf entered.

"Hyperdrive's fully functional," Sam said. "We can start whenever you want."

Teal'c slowly increased their acceleration. "We're going after Apophis's _teltak_ first," Daniel said.

Martouf was wearing that look again that said he had misgivings about some ill-conceived plan, but he didn't complain. "And then?" he said.

"We've set coordinates for Earth," Jack said. "Once we take care of that cargo ship, we'll jump into hyperspace and start--"

Beeping came from the console.

"What's that?" Jacob said, moving toward the controls. He glanced at the monitor. "There's another ship approaching fast on the sensors."

"Ship?" Daniel said tentatively. "Another cargo ship?"

Jacob shook his head. "It's the mothership the Replicators are using. That thing took out Apophis's ship like it was nothing. Teal'c, we need to run. Hit the hyperdr--"

An impact shook the ship. "Crap--what _is_ that?" Jack said.

The ship trembled again. "We're under attack," Jacob said tightly, wincing as something else struck them. "Shields are already starting to fail--Teal'c, screw the _teltak_ , we have to run!"

Daniel never had the chance to find out whether Teal'c would have listened before another thunderous impact threw him onto the floor. Even Teal'c was on his knees before the bridge. Martouf had grabbed onto the weapons console for balance and said, "Shields are at seventeen percent...hyperdrive was hit but is still functional--"

Teal'c pulled himself up and reached for the hyperdrive, but before he could press it, he called, "Our rings have been activated from the _teltak_ ; Apophis may have transported himself into our ship!"

"Martouf, take the controls--lock yourself in this room!" Jack ordered, then staggered up and braced himself against the wall as they were shaken again. "Everyone else grab a gun and get to the rings. Go!"

Jack thrust a tac vest and weapon into Daniel's hands. Daniel shrugged the vest on and clipped the gun in place as he ran, Teal'c in the lead and Jack and Jacob sandwiching Daniel in from behind.

"Wait," Sam said. "Colonel, go, I'll catch up!"

Daniel looked back but didn't stop, and a moment later, he saw her emerge from a secondary cargo hold with two small, metallic balls in her hand. "That's what I'm talking about," Jack said approvingly as Daniel finally recognized it as a shock grenade, apparently from stores Cronus had left behind. "Carter, get up here, we'll cover you."

"Martouf, life signs?" Sam called into her radio as she sprinted past them.

There was a pause, and then, _"In the ring chamber. I cannot tell...between ten and fifteen,"_ Martouf's voice answered them. And then, _"Now several more--they are continuing to arrive and are beginning to leave the chamber."_

"Get those rings locked!" Jacob ordered. "Close off the room, seal whatever corridors you can so they can't swarm us, and get us away from the Replicator ship!"

_"Rings are locked to external activation,"_ Martouf said. _"I have sealed them inside that chamber, but several have already escaped. Reconfiguring hyperdrive now..."_

"Carter, Teal'c," Jack said, pointing at the closed doors to the ring chamber. Teal'c stood at the side with his staff weapon at the ready while Sam crouched behind his legs to set a shock grenade. Jack planted himself at the other side. "Keep your eyes open out here," he added, looking at Daniel and Jacob.

"Martouf, open the room on three and shut it right away," Sam said into her radio as Daniel tore his eyes away from them and ran past to stand guard at one end of the corridor while Jacob took the other. "One...two... _three_ \--"

He glanced back quickly to see Jack and Teal'c open fire into the room, barely able to get their weapons into the narrow opening to cause confusion before Sam rolled the grenade in and the door slammed shut.

"Regroup!" Jack ordered. Daniel checked his corridor once more before joining the others again.

_"Internal ring activation,"_ Martouf said. _"Some of the Jaffa must have escaped to the lower levels before the grenade hit."_

"Jack--" Jacob said, and he fired his _zat'nik'tel_ at something Daniel couldn't see down his end of the corridor. "This way!" Another Serpent Guard appeared even as he spoke--

Then something hit the ship hard enough to send it tumbling.

Daniel felt himself slam into the wall even despite the artificial gravity's directional constraints, and training jerked his finger off the trigger in time to avoid shooting any of his friends.

By the time he shook his head and managed to pick himself back up, an alarm was blaring and Lantash was yelling, _"...breached! The hull has been breached! Central controls are damaged--hyperdrive is inoperative. Air pressure is falling! I cannot seal the breach!"_

"Control overrides...at the engine room," Jacob gasped as he recovered. Daniel gritted his teeth and tried to reorient himself as the ship continued to shake around them.

"I'll go," Sam said, just loud enough to hear over the alarms. Daniel turned in her direction and felt his eyes widen as an armored Jaffa rose from where he'd fallen in the crash and aimed at her back.

"Sam!" Daniel yelled, raising his gun.

She dropped flat to the floor, and he fired over her.

"Carter," Jack called as the Serpent Guard tumbled backward to the floor. "Engine room--close that breach! We'll get the other Jaffa. Now!"

Without argument, Sam tossed him her other shock grenade, scrambled back to her feet, and took off. _"Lantash, I'm going,"_ she said into her radio as she disappeared around the nearest corner. _"You'll have to guide me when I get there."_

Jacob planted himself where he stood, zat gun raised, Jack several paces behind him and Daniel behind him and Teal'c behind _him_ , and Daniel recognized this maneuver from training--

"Daniel Jackson," Teal'c barked, guarding the rear. Daniel ran past all of them, staying low, flinching when another Jaffa appeared ahead of him, but a zat blast and a bullet struck the enemy simultaneously and he ran on before stopping just ahead of Jacob.

"How many more Jaffa!" Jack yelled as he advanced past them.

_"I cannot tell,"_ Lantash said. _"About twenty in total, perhaps half caught in the ring room. One group on the third level and others around you."_

_"Where's the breach?"_ Sam's voice called.

_"The..."_ Lantash started, and Daniel imagined him comparing the schematics with his quickly sketched map. _"Second level cargo bay."_

_"On it,"_ Sam said.

"Why aren't the Replicators still attacking?" Jacob said, dashing past them to the head of the line.

"Who cares--they're not!" Jack said.

"Go!" Teal'c snapped.

Daniel ran forward past the others but faltered when three Jaffa rushed out simultaneously from inside the ring room.

Dropping to the ground, he felt more than heard the whiz of weapons and energy blasts over his head. He rolled toward the wall--two sets of armored legs had already fallen, and he raised his gun just enough to fire at the last legs standing. A Jaffa screamed, wounded leg buckling as Daniel finally rose into a more comfortable crouch, and he had time to see the Serpent Guard's face, wide-eyed with agony, before he shot the Jaffa again to end it.

"Jack," Jacob yelled from somewhere behind him, "if there are Jaffa running free on the lower levels, we've gotta get down there before they come up and hit us from behind!"

The alarms shut off. The ship stopped shaking.

_"I'm coming back,"_ Sam's voice sounded from their radios. _"I can't get into the engine room."_

_"But the hull breach was just sealed,"_ Lantash said. _"You must have done something."_

_"That wasn't me,"_ she answered. _"That was the Replicators!"_

"What the hell?" Jack said as Daniel gaped at nothing in horrified confusion. "Jake, you and me to the ring room--we'll go below. Carter, meet us at the rings on the lower level. Teal'c, Daniel, make sure no one's still left up here."

"Daniel Jackson, _kree_ ," Teal'c said, sharp and crisp, and Daniel snapped to attention as Jack and Jacob slipped off in the other direction.

He followed Teal'c down the corridor to the rest of the upper level that they hadn't reached yet. "Door ahead," he warned.

Teal'c reached it first, and he twisted aside as a staff blast struck the wall behind him. Daniel quickly ran to the entrance, too, from the other side of the hall, then turned his gun inward and fired on the first person he saw. The heat of a staff weapon seared past his arm even as he did so, but the Jaffa collapsed and he didn't.

Recovering, Teal'c looked into the chamber and quickly scanned the interior. "Clear," he said, then continued down the hall. "This way. There are two last rooms where they may have taken shelter."

No one met them in the corridor, but both of the rooms in sight were open. Unease prickled at Daniel's skin--surely there couldn't have been _that_ many Jaffa who'd made it onboard before Martouf had locked the rings. Most had been trapped in the ring room and a few had made it below... There might be no one here--or there might be a trap.

Teal'c planted himself beside one door, gesturing for Daniel to look into the other. As quietly as he could, Daniel pressed against the opposite wall, waiting for the signal.

Teal'c shifted his grip on his staff weapon, staring back intently, then nodded once.

Daniel pushed away from the wall and swung his gun toward the interior of the room as Teal'c did the same in the room behind him. Taking a deep breath, Daniel stepped in, turning to scan one corner--

Something swept him aside, sending him sliding along the floor.

His gun was jarred from his fingers, and before he could even try to move, a hand yanked him up while his gun was kicked farther out of reach. Daniel squirmed, but an arm clamped his arms to his sides. He started to call out, but a hand slapped over his mouth and another dug into his side, hard and metallic...

He froze. A Goa'uld hand device.

And then he panicked and tried to yell around the hand on his mouth, his eyes darting around and trying and failing to find Teal'c--his arms were trapped, his gun was on the other side of the room, he had a bayonet on his belt but he couldn't reach it--

"Do not struggle, Dan'yel," Apophis said into his ear. Daniel struggled harder. The ribbon device activated, just enough to feel hot where it pressed against his side, even through his vest and shirt, and he felt himself shudder. " _Shol'va_ ," Apophis said, spinning them both around. "Lower your weapon _._ "

Teal'c stood before them, his staff weapon primed and aimed at them both, but Daniel was the bigger one now even if Apophis was stronger--even Teal'c would be hard-pressed to hit Apophis with a staff blast without hitting Daniel first, and with a hand device in play, it was all but impossible.

Gunfire sounded in the distance--the others had returned from below--and Teal'c's eyes darted toward the door for a moment.

"He will be dead before they arrive," Apophis said, calling Teal'c's attention back. "Drop your weapon." Daniel twisted sharply again in the Goa'uld's grip, unwilling to be the tool that stopped Teal'c from killing Apophis.

_Shoot,_ Daniel tried to say, staring hard at Teal'c. _Don't let him take me. Shoot._ He bit down hard on the Goa'uld's hand over his mouth and tasted blood.

In response, the ribbon device against his side flared red hot, and Daniel heard his own strangled scream as pain burned through his gear and pierced into his flesh.

Apophis shifted his bloody hand to restrain Daniel more tightly around the chest, and only that kept Daniel upright as he swallowed another yell and barely stopped his knees from buckling. "Teal'c, shoot--" he gasped.

But before he could learn whether or not Teal'c would have done it, the hand device lifted away to fling Teal'c back into the corridor outside.

Then Apophis's hand device returned to grip Daniel securely again before he could recover and try to escape. "Tell your friends that this ship is mine," Apophis said, "and I will tell my Jaffa not to kill them."

"We already killed most of your Jaffa," Daniel gritted out, breathing through ebbing waves of pain. "You're desperate, or you would never have tried this. You can't win."

"Even though I have won each time before this?" Apophis mocked, then pushed him forward, never loosening his grasp. "Come with me, Abydon."

"No," Daniel said, locking his legs and trying to pull back. "No!"

Without warning, the ship pitched violently under his feet with the familiar jolt of the hyperdrive.

He and Apophis crashed to the floor in a tangle of limbs, Daniel trapped underneath. But the grip around him loosened--

\--and suddenly, Apophis's weight disappeared completely. Daniel darted away, not caring how Martouf had finally managed to activate their hyperdrive when the controls had been damaged earlier, as long as he was free.

He reached back to fumble for his bayonet and turned simultaneously to find Teal'c back on his feet, just barely holding onto Apophis from behind, the Goa'uld's arms twisted and locked into Teal'c's grip but already starting to break free.

" _Nok, Daniel Jackson!_ " Teal'c managed as his grasp started to slip and the ribbon device started to glow. " _Arik kek nok!_ "

Not daring to think anymore, Daniel wrapped both of his hands around the hilt, rose to his knees, and slammed the knife as hard as he could into the Goa'uld's unarmored midsection.

The blade tore through leather and flesh with all of Daniel's weight behind it. Apophis jerked. Teal'c let go. Daniel moved back hastily as Apophis's legs crumpled and sent him crashing to the ground, the knife still buried in his body.

The Goa'uld twitched once, then lay still.

Teal'c was leaning against the wall, staring wide-eyed at Apophis's still form. Daniel forced himself to move and crouched warily beside the body. Apophis's eyes were open, staring, and Daniel reached a trembling hand out to search for a pulse--

Apophis's hands shot up and grabbed the back of Daniel's neck, jerking him down until their faces were only inches apart.

Squealing sounded from the man's mouth. " _Ay!_ No!" Daniel choked out, unable to escape the desperate grasp. The familiar sight of a symbiote head appeared at Apophis's mouth. " _No!_ "

Then Teal'c's hand reached between them, closed on the symbiote, and yanked it away.

The hands around Daniel went limp and dropped to the floor. Daniel scrambled away, his entire body screaming to flee, and finally looked up to see the Goa'uld symbiote--Apophis--still alive, still struggling, still squeaking in Teal'c's fist.

Teal'c turned the symbiote around until he was staring into its beady eyes, its jaw opening wide and snapping at him while its tail whipped in all directions. He wrapped his other hand around the symbiote as well and smiled in a way even Daniel had never seen him smile and hoped never to see again.

And then he began to squeeze.

The symbiote shrieked. As Daniel watched, fascinated and horrified, thick, blue blood began to leak between Teal'c's fingers.

And with a final, twisting jerk, Teal'c ripped Apophis in two, and the agonized squealing stopped.

Daniel stared at the dead symbiote in Teal'c's hands, unable to tear his eyes away, not sure what Teal'c was thinking and not wanting to look up and find out. Teal'c didn't move. For a while, Daniel thought they would remain frozen there forever.

Then a sound came from behind him.

He whipped around again and saw Apophis's host--the man who had been a scribe at the temple of Amun at Karnak--moaning weakly where he lay. Red dribbled from the corner of his mouth. His hands were wrapped around the hilt of the knife Daniel had plunged messily into him, without the strength to pull it out. The man's eyes opened to slits, then squeezed shut in pain and widened again, filled with all the terror Daniel had seen in them once before, years ago, because of course he wouldn't have died immediately, not with a wound there, but it would _hurt_.

" _Naturu_ ," Daniel breathed. Appalled, he crawled toward his fallen gun, picked it up, and switched to single-shot. He aimed the gun at the man's unprotected head and moved until there was no chance of missing.

For a moment, he froze, not quite believing what he was about to do. Then the host started to turn to see him. Daniel squeezed the trigger.

The scribe's hands loosened from around the knife and dropped to the floor, his eyes staring in a blood-spattered face. Daniel let go of the gun, backed away, and found himself unable to move any further, so he rested on his knees and concentrated on the solid reality of Teal'c's boot resting just by his leg.

A drop of blue fell and hit the floor near Daniel's hand. He lifted his hand and saw a red smear left behind on the floor. The taste of metal in his mouth was sharp, and he wiped some of Apophis's--his host's--drying blood from his lips with the back of his hand.

Footsteps sounded in the corridor outside. Neither of them moved toward a weapon.

Jack appeared first and Sam just behind, both of them holding their guns at the ready. Neither of them seemed badly wounded, though Sam sported a still-bleeding gash across her leg and there seemed to be a burn on Jack's shoulder. _Shrapnel or Replicator_ , Daniel thought numbly, and, _staff weapon_.

Then Jack's gaze landed on the body of Apophis's host. Daniel looked up at him and found his friend and commander's face wiped of all expression, eyes roving from the host and the knife in his abdomen and the gunshot wound in his head, to Daniel and the P90 lying next to him, and then to Teal'c and the mangled System Lord symbiote.

Teal'c opened his hands and let Apophis's corpse fall to the floor. Daniel flinched but couldn't make himself shift away from it. Couldn't stop staring at it.

"You okay?" Jack said briskly. Daniel felt his head nod without consent from his brain. Teal'c must have nodded, too, because Jack said, "We gotta go. We've got Replicators onboard. They took us into hyperspace toward Earth, and we're locked out of the systems."

Sam edged around Jack and crouched next to Daniel, taking a hand from her gun to grab his elbow and urge him up. "I'm okay," Daniel heard himself say as he stood, wincing from pain he had forgotten until now.

"Okay," she said, but didn't let go until he was standing.

"Teal'c, take the gun; staff weapon'll be useless on Replicators," Jack said. More sharply, "Teal'c!"

Daniel looked back at the scribe and at Apophis. Teal'c seemed to shake himself and bent to retrieve the P90 Daniel had dropped.

"Jacob?" he thought to say as Jack gestured for them to leave and Sam shepherded him out. "The Jaffa?"

"Dad and Martouf are in the _peltak_ , trying to figure out what control we still have," Sam said. "We got the other Jaffa, as far as we can tell. Even the ones in the ring room--"

"We took them out before they could wake up from the shock grenade," Jack said. Daniel thought he should feel a little sick at that image but couldn't. Jack looked from Daniel to Teal'c. "Any serious injuries?"

"None," Teal'c said. Daniel reached down to his side, where there was a hole in his vest and jacket and some of the fibers were melted onto his skin, but he decided it wasn't life threatening and nodded in agreement.

"Then take five minutes to patch up and clean up while we figure out what to do next," Jack ordered. "We need a plan fast. Let's go."


	29. Allies

**_15 July 2001; Cronus's_ ** **Hatak _; 1400 hrs_**

Fingers snapped under Daniel's nose. "Hey," Jack said sharply. Daniel looked up, startled to see that he, Sam, and Teal'c had returned from scouting the ship. "You zoning out?"

"No," he said automatically. "I--"

"Stop it," Jack said. "Thought you were standing guard while we were gone."

"Yes," Daniel said. "Sorry." He had been ordered to keep watch so Jacob and Martouf could focus on the computers. He readjusted his grip on the gun he'd been holding for so long now that he barely felt it. Everything else had faded to dull aches that didn't even begin to compete with the fatigue settling into his bones.

"How's your side?" Jack asked.

Daniel twisted his torso a little and stopped abruptly when he felt the pull from where Apophis had burned him. "It'll hold," he said. "Sam taped me up."

He still thought, at least a little, that they should just try to blow the ship up--he was starting to hear scratching noises in the walls that couldn't be anything but the Replicators, which could only mean they were starting to take over completely. It would be worth it, wouldn't it, to stop the Replicators from using this ship to get to Earth?

"Hey!" Jack repeated, this time grabbing Daniel's chin and tilting it to look at him. "Focus. You hear me? Not yet."

"Sorry," Daniel said again, and finally, he pulled away and shook himself. The _peltak_ around him melted sluggishly back into focus, and while it still felt a little bit like he was in a dream, he thought most of that could be blamed on physical exhaustion and the low-level buzz of pain from minor injuries, not an unthinking daze. Glancing again at where Jacob and Martouf were trying to regain control of their computers, he said, "Um...how did Replicators get in, anyway?" Jack nodded to him very slightly.

"I found a lot of Replicator blocks when I was going to seal off the damaged section of the ship," Sam told him. "In fact, they'd already started forming a barrier at the breach when I finally got it closed off, but no signs of any other physical missile. I suspect _they_ were the missile that hit us: a weapon and a method of entry rolled into one."

Daniel imagined a missile made of Replicators and made a face. He wasn't sure he _ever_ wanted to see what that looked like close up. "We can't fight them off?"

"They are primarily in the engine room now," Teal'c said. "There are already too many for us to defeat. If we engage them, they will see us as a threat and fight us until we are eliminated."

"It's gotta be all or nothing," Jack said. "For whatever it's worth, they're pretty much _all_ holed up in the engine room. We found a few groups of strays roaming around, but...Carter's got this theory about hive mentality, and we'd rather stay _off_ the 'threats-to-be-eliminated' list."

"Hive," Daniel repeated. "Well, that would make sense. They must communicate with each other--they couldn't fly a ship and plan coordinated attacks if each Replicator were independent."

"Exactly," Sam said, nodding. "It could be something like...like a networked set of computers. Essentially, they _are_ just advanced computers."

"Vicious computers with pincers," Jack added.

"So if we can't take them out a few at a time with guns," Daniel said, "then our best hope is to use the ship itself against them, right?"

"It would appear that is so," Teal'c agreed.

"Except that they're better at using our ship than we are," Sam said.

Daniel reached his fingers under his glasses to rub his eyes. "So we need a way to...what, crash the ship before they get to Earth?"

"There might be another way," Sam said.

Jack looked like he agreed with the sentiment but raised his eyebrows at her. "I'm listening."

Her eyes slid away briefly, and then back. "I'm thinking."

"Carter," Jack said firmly, "if you can find a way that doesn't include all of us dying, tell me. But if worse comes to worst, I don't know about all of you, but I'd rather go out quick than get ripped apart by Replicators. I'm just saying."

Still shielded in his not-quite-feeling state of mind, Daniel nodded his agreement. "As a last resort...the Replicators on Apophis's ship couldn't get around the auto-destruct."

"Unfortunately..." Jacob started, turning around.

"No, don't say _'unfortunately_ ,'" Jack said.

"Unfortunately," Jacob insisted, "it looks like the Replicators have figured out Goa'uld computers now. We're completely locked out of the main systems from here. They'd probably be able to shut off the autodestruct this time, even if I could set it."

"Great," Jack muttered.

"But," Martouf said, "the Replicators' skill at manipulating technology may be in our favor. Samantha--look at this."

Skittering sounds made Daniel whip back around, sticking his head and his gun out into the corridor as he searched for the source of the sound.

There was one Replicator only a few paces away, but it was coming toward them, and a small swarm was following it, clicking metallic limbs steadily along the floor and the walls. "Jack," Daniel said sharply, tensing his finger on the trigger but not sure whether or not to shoot.

Jack and Teal'c were both beside him in a second. "Crap," Jack said softly, but he held out a hand as Teal'c took aim. "No--wait. They're gonna want this room. We can't hold them off forever if they're really trying to get in."

"Jacob Carter believes we no longer have control of the main systems from here," Teal'c said. "It may be wise to surrender the _peltak_."

Nodding, Jack called, "Hey, kids...get out here. _Everyone_."

Daniel inched further out into the corridor to clear the entrance, watching the approaching Replicators. "You might want to hurry," he added. "A lot."

"Holy Hannah," Jacob muttered as he stepped out first. He tucked his _zat'nik'tel_ away, useless against Replicators, and unceremoniously took the pistol out of Daniel's holster. "I'm gonna borrow this, kiddo, all right?" Daniel nodded and didn't shift his stance as Jacob tugged at his belt until he'd grabbed an extra magazine of ammunition.

"Hold your fire," Jack warned.

"Are you kidding me?" Jacob said.

As Sam pulled Martouf out of the room, Jack said, "They're in the engine room. They probably want the _peltak_ , too. The computers here are useless to us, and if they want in, they'll get in."

"Might as well not get killed trying to stop them," Sam agreed. "What about local controls? We can try to hack into the central networks from somewhere else."

"Yeah," Jacob said. "There's a monitor just down there, where you've been keeping your stuff."

"Then let's move," Jack ordered, and they backed swiftly away from the _peltak_ , moving down the hall as the first Replicator crawled into the _peltak_. They followed Jack down the corridor to the room they'd been using to store the limited supplies they'd brought.

As they reached the room, Jack motioned for Teal'c to keep watch at the door and began pulling open their bags. "There's a bunch of C-4 in here," he said, searching through. "We can try to blow things up. Put a big enough dent in the ship and we crash and burn, right?"

"Wait, there's something else you should know," Jacob said. "Just before we left the _peltak_ , we found out that we're going almost thirty times the maximum speed of our hyperdrive and accelerating rapidly."

"Is that possible?" Martouf said.

"I wouldn't be surprised if the bugs had found a way of modifying the engines," Sam said, turning on a nearby computer and letting her father check their progress again. "They're very advanced. We're probably going much faster than that now--"

"Looks like almost a four hundred times maximum speed," Jacob confirmed.

"--which means we'll be back in our galaxy in no time."

"As will the Replicators, however," Teal'c said. "Our destination is still Earth."

"We can't let them get a foothold in our galaxy, much less on our planet," Jack agreed. "Even the Asgard are barely surviving against them."

"They almost had a planet taken over by Replicators a year ago," Daniel said, "and it almost happened to Earth, too, through them."

"Almost," Martouf repeated.

"When they flew Thor's ship to Earth," Sam explained, her eyes lighting up thoughtfully, "we managed to destroy the deceleration drive just before the ship started to enter Earth's atmosphere. It couldn't withstand an uncontrolled reentry."

Jacob nodded, still scanning through whatever he could on this computer. "Goa'uld motherships use sublight engines to slow down after exiting hyperspace and to control their reentry. If we destroy the sublight engine controls..."

"...the ship won't be able to stop," Sam finished. "And it'll burn up in Earth's atmosphere, just like Thor's ship did. We'd have to wait until just after the ship comes out of hyperspace and starts its descent, though, so the bugs won't have time to change trajectory."

"Whoa, wait," Jack said, holding up a hand. "I'm guessing we don't have a way to beam ourselves off the ship before it blows this time. Do we?"

"Escape pods?" Sam said. "Auxiliary ships? What do we have on board this thing?"

Jacob raised his head from the computer. "Gliders in the docking bay. Lots of 'em."

Nodding, Teal'c said, "We need only three to carry us all to safety. We can destroy the engine controls as we leave hyperspace, escape in the gliders, and land on Earth."

"Assuming the Replicators haven't taken over the glider bay already," Daniel pointed out.

Sam looked over her father's shoulder. "The local controls in that area seem to be intact. They're most likely focusing on the engine room, not smaller auxiliary systems like gliders."

"Okay, we'll go with that," Jack said. "Now, how do we disable these engines?"

"Destroy the control crystals in the engine room," Jacob said.

Jack reached back into the pack he'd been searching and held up a block of C-4.

"If we plant anything with a detonator, we risk having it disabled by the time we leave and set it off, sir," Sam said. "To be sure, we would have to physically destroy the crystals ourselves. A P90 at close range should do the job."

"Maybe you weren't paying attention before, Major, but that room is crawling with bugs," Jack said.

"You got a better idea, Mr. Positive?" Jacob said. "We're now moving at over eight hundred times our previous maximum speed--we'll arrive soon. If we're doing this, someone needs to be ready to destroy the crystals as soon as we drop out of hyperspace, and someone else needs to get a few gliders powered up and ready to go."

Jack made a face, then said, "Carter, Teal'c, we'll take the engine room. You three, get to the glider bay and figure out who's flying. Keep your radios on. Let's--wait--" Jack bent down, picked up another P90, and handed it to Teal'c, who shifted the submachine gun he already had into his left hand and took the other in his right. "Now we're ready."

...x...

Jacob took the lead as they ran down toward the glider bay, and Martouf stayed in the middle as Daniel took rear guard for what might have been the first time outside of training.

Martouf was silent as they went. "Are you okay?" Daniel asked, unnerved not by the silence but by the expression on the unflappable Tok'ra's face.

"Who will fly the _udajeet_?" Martouf said tightly.

Daniel mentally counted their number, but before anyone could answer, they found themselves at an intersection separating the lower level from the one above. He found himself automatically stepping in front of Martouf as they rounded the corner, scanning the section quickly as he heard Jacob doing the same from the other side, and he realized that was exactly what was wrong.

"Clear," Jacob said.

"Clear," Daniel answered, and turned to follow Jacob one more door down to the glider bay, herding Martouf in front of himself with one hand. "Jacob and Teal'c can each fly one," he said as Jacob opened the door, then closed it again behind them. "And..."

Martouf looked around the room, his eyes running over the row of death gliders waiting for them. "Can Colonel O'Neill fly a Goa'uld ship?"

"Uh..." Daniel hedged. "That...depends on what you mean by ' _can_.'"

"It is a simple question!" Martouf snapped.

"Then, no, he's never tried it except behind Teal'c," Daniel said, "but he and Sam know about gliders from the X-301 project, and Jack's piloted lots of other aircraft. He might be able to learn. He learned to maneuver a _teltak_ once in an emergency situation."

_"We're in position,"_ Jack's voice said from their radios, just above a whisper. _"We'll hit it as soon as we drop out of hyperspace."_

"Good luck," Jacob answered. He climbed into the seats located under one glider, powered it on, and glanced at Martouf. "I'll fly with Sam. Teal'c can take Daniel, and Martouf can take Jack."

"Jacob--" Martouf said, then stepped forward and grabbed Jacob's arm to stop his movements. "You do not understand. It is Lantash who remembers how and it is my body that moves--it takes all our concentration to appear whole even when we move from room to room on foot!"

"All you need to do," Jacob said, pulling his arm firmly away and moving on to the next ship as Daniel bit his lip and looked up at the cockpit of a third, climbing into the back seat, "is fly out of the bay and get as far as you can before the _hatak_ blows. No complicated navigation or maneuvering. You'll be fine. You're making yourself nervous."

"Jacob--"

Daniel was searching the panel in his _udajeet_ for the switch that started its engines, so he didn't see Jacob's eyes flash, but he turned at Selmak's voice.

"There is no time," Selmak said sternly. "Let Teal'c go first; I will watch from behind. Follow him, fly fast, and stop when you see him stop. Then, we will no longer be constrained by time. If you need to, you can then cede the controls to Colonel O'Neill and guide him as you guided Mr. Jackson in flying the _hatak_. Now...I believe Mr. Jackson needs your help."

"Right, um..." Daniel said awkwardly as Martouf took a deep breath and slowly turned to face him. "I don't know how this works."

Martouf looked back once at Selmak and dipped his head. Lantash surfaced, and the Tok'ra strode wordlessly toward Daniel to power the _udajeet_ on _._ As before, at the _peltak_ , he pointed to the sections of the panel in the back seat and said tersely, "Communications--with other gliders and long-range. Put this on." He pulled a headset from the front and handed it to Daniel.

Daniel slipped the earpiece in and heard Jacob's voice say in his ear, _"Can you hear me? Turn on the microphone--there's a button on the side."_

He tapped the microphone on and answered, "I hear you."

"This is the override for the glider," Lantash continued. "Do not touch that unless Teal'c is too badly injured to fly and you must take control. When you are both seated, this will raise you into the cockpit above. When you are in, release the vice to allow the ship to drop out of its place."

"Okay," Daniel said, very glad he wasn't going to be in the front seat. "And this might be a stupid question, but don't we need to open the bay doors to...get _out_?"

"We're still in hyperspace," Jacob reminded him. "Besides, we don't want to alert the bugs to what we're doing until it's too late to stop us. I'll handle the doors." He took a look around. "Your gliders ready?"

Lantash checked Daniel and Teal'c's glider once more, then moved to the one he would take with Jack, fixing his own headset in place. "They are."

The ship shuddered.

"That's it, we've dropped out," Jacob said.

Nearly a minute and no communication later, Daniel thumbed his radio. "Jack, Sam, Teal'c, where are you?"

_"Rings,"_ Jack said breathlessly in answer. _"We're stuck on the--we're ringing down! Open up!"_

"Daniel, go," Jacob said.

Without waiting, Daniel lifted himself back out of the glider and hopped down to the ground. He opened the door to the glider bay and found the ring room just in time to see SG-1 appear on the platform, stumbling as if they had been running while being transported.

"This way," Daniel said, noting that none of them seemed badly hurt before turning back toward the glider bay. "Sam, go with your father at the far end. Jack's with Martouf. Teal'c, I'm going with you, and we need to take the lead."

The gliders came back into view. Daniel climbed back into his seat, watching Sam and Jack drop into the other two. He waited just long enough for Teal'c to get one foot into the cockpit before twisting the switch to send their seats up into the waiting cockpit and releasing their glider from its place.

_"Ready?"_ Jacob's voice said through their speakers as the doors to the glider bay slid open. They stopped fully open and then, without warning, started to inch closed--the Replicators had finally noticed them. _"Damn--go, now!"_

Daniel clutched his seat as Teal'c jammed his own earpiece in and sped past the closing bay doors and into space, ahead of both of the other gliders.

_"Lantash, you good?"_ Jacob said. Daniel twisted in his seat, hoping to see the others, until Teal'c snapped at him to sit down and face forward.

_"Yes,"_ Lantash's voice answered.

_"They should hit atmosphere in...five..."_ Sam said. _"...four...three...two..."_

Daniel turned around again in time to see the _hatak_ , growing smaller as they sped away, hurtle toward the planet and explode in a burst of flame.

He flinched reflexively at the sight, but nothing happened to them, and then, the only thing left in sight was the planet Earth and two other _udajeet_ skimming through the darkness at their side.

_"That's it,"_ Jack said. _"Is that it?"_

The sound of Jacob's sharp, short laugh came over their speakers. _"That's it. We're done."_

"We have suffered no damage to our glider," Teal'c spoke up.

A pause, and then, _"Nor have we,"_ Lantash confirmed.

_"Good. Lantash, stay where you are,"_ Jacob was saying. _"Teal'c, let's pull in toward him and stick closer together before we lose someone. And Jack, see if we can't get George on the line--send a long-range transmission."_

Their glider turned around until they were looking straight into the cockpit to see Lantash and Jack, Earth in full view behind them. From farther off, Jacob and Sam's glider was turning, too.

_"Jack?"_ Jacob repeated. _"You gonna call, or do I have to do it?"_

There was a brief pause, and then, _"Ah..."_ Jack said. Daniel looked into the other cockpit again--the lights illuminating it showed Jack peering at the panel in front of himself. _"All right, this would be a lot easier if I could read my computer screen. Or if someone down there"_ \--he pointed to Earth-- _"would turn a satellite our way and call us."_

"Also," Daniel said, "how do we send a signal that the SGC will receive and understand without compromising security?"

But Sam had a solution for that. _"They have that Tok'ra short-range communicator we used on Netu,"_ she said. _"We modified it to use it with the X-301 project, but it's integrated with the systems in the control room now. It's coded, and no one should be receiving the signal but the SGC, but just in case..."_

_"Sam and I will find the right frequency and put together a message,"_ Jacob said. _"Everyone sit tight and watch for incoming transmissions--they might try to contact us, too."_

Between the two Carters, they finally sent off a repeating signal of something that Daniel's computer monitor showed as several oddly-shaped waves. Sam said it was her IDC, sent with a standard encryption, and that the technicians would undoubtedly recognize the pattern and know it was them.

_"Don't memorize and steal it,"_ she teased. _"That's gotta be a form of identity theft somewhere in the galaxy."_

"Well, it's not like we're going to type wiggle-lines into our GDOs," Daniel said, because translating waveforms into numbers was one of the languages Sam was better at than he.

_"Wiggle-lines,"_ Jack repeated. _"Is that the technical term?"_

"They look like wiggles," Daniel said.

_"They're called 'waves,'"_ Jack said.

Teal'c spoke up to say, "They are, however, wiggling."

And then Daniel realized they were joking, as if they hadn't just watched their ship fall apart and spent the last few days talking about the merits and methods of killing themselves in a way that caused as much damage as possible. Jacob must have realized it at the same time, because he chuckled again.

Then the brief giddy moment passed, and as they sat in their gliders, waiting for someone to answer their call, falling slowly out of the rush of fear and focus that had colored the last few days, Daniel found himself staring at Earth from above for the first time.

"It's beautiful," he said. "It's like the pictures in books from telescopes, except...not. And it's...it's..."

_"She's a beauty, huh?"_ Jack said. _"We should probably move closer, by the way--get a better view of what we're aiming for."_

Jacob's glider broke formation first, moving slowly into a lower orbit around Earth.

_"Hey, guys, remember the first time we saw Earth from space?"_ Sam said as Teal'c waited for Lantash to follow, then joined the other two, bringing everything into even clearer view.

_"I recall we were running around on a ship trying to blow it up and barely managed to do it and escape before it got to Earth,"_ Jack said. _"Oh, wait..."_

"I didn't look outside that time," Daniel remembered, finally tearing his eyes away from the planet to see Jack and Martouf on his left and Sam and her father on his right.

_"You were kind of dead that time,"_ Jack corrected. _"And then a little high on sarcophagus fumes, so, no, you probably didn't look out the window."_ Sam laughed, even though a few years ago, the memory of his first involuntary mission with SG-1 on Apophis's mothership would have made all of them wince. She must be even more exhausted than he was.

Even staring at the back of Teal'c's head, Daniel could hear him smiling as he said, "And the next time we saw this planet from a ship, it was the _Biliskner_ that we were attempting to destroy just before it reached Earth."

_"I'm sensing a pattern here,"_ Jacob said dryly.

_"Hey, we do what works,"_ Jack said.

_"Major Davis is going to be so annoyed,"_ Sam said, her grin audible. _"We promised him to try not to blow things up around Earth anymore."_

"At least we have Russia on our side this time," Daniel pointed out. "Or we can tell Russia we're not trying to attack them, and maybe they'll help us come up with a cover story."

_"Still,"_ Jack said. _"Sucks to be Paul Davis today. You just know they're gonna throw him to the press sharks."_

After a moment, Lantash spoke up to say, _"The Stargate and Goa'uld technology are secret on your planet. How will we land?"_

_"George'll figure something out,"_ Jacob said. _"We'll just have to try to land somewhere away from civilian eyes."_

"There's nothing wrong with civilians," Daniel said inanely, even though he knew what Jacob had meant. The space outside their glider was black and gaping, and no one wanted to let too much silence start to open up along with it. "I'm one."

_"Oh, that's right,"_ Jack said, with a hint of that slightly maniacal glee that rose in him whenever a major System Lord fell. _"The civilian who double-teamed Cronus and then stabbed Apophis to death."_

_"Is that what you did to him?"_ Jacob said. _"The guy survives a supernova and a Replicator attack--just in the past couple of days--and then dies of a knife wound. Hah!"_

"It wasn't the knife," Daniel said, but it was quiet enough that he didn't think anyone--except maybe Teal'c--had heard. No one answered it, anyway.

_"Well, it just proves they're not invulnerable,"_ Sam said optimistically. _"Take away a shield, ship, and army, and they're mortal."_

Daniel looked down at his hands. He'd scrubbed at them hard earlier with help from a canteen and a wet jacket sleeve, but they hadn't really had time since then to stop and clean themselves beyond dressing a few minor injuries. He still had faint streaks lodged in the creases of his hands. He wondered if Teal'c's hands were still stained with blue.

Apophis's host probably wouldn't have lived even if Daniel hadn't shot him, and he knew it. The man had been badly wounded with no doctor nearby and none of them able to provide the necessary care. And then there was the man's age--thousands of years--and the sarcophagus addiction, and maybe even more they didn't know about. Whether or not they could have saved his mind, his body had been lost.

Daniel started to wonder if he should have hesitated, at least, but that wasn't the problem, either--Jack would have assured him of that. Hesitation in those situations brought more risk without more benefit, and, in this case, more pain on the part of the host.

But he should have _wanted_ to hesitate, even if the action would have been the same in the end. Intentions mattered. Daniel wondered how much of his decision to pull the trigger so quickly had been from a sense of mercy and reason, and how much had been his own desire to put a bullet in Apophis's head and be done with it once and for all. He hoped it had been mostly the former and feared it had been partly the latter.

_"Then Apophis truly is dead,"_ Lantash was saying. _"You are certain he could not have escaped?"_

"Yes," Teal'c said quietly. Then, louder, "There is no doubt. Apophis is dead."

_"Finally,"_ Jacob said. _"That's one less pain in the butt to think about."_

Daniel waited for delight to settle over him, or perhaps satisfaction at having watched the symbiote die, or the contentment of fulfilled vengeance, or excitement at what this might mean to the Jaffa on Chulak, or even hope that their actions had at least freed Apophis's host from his lifetimes of torment...

Instead, something heavy dropped away from him, and it took a moment for him to recognize it as a relief so deep that he sank along with it, slouching into his seat and finally leaning his elbows forward on his legs to let his head hang in the small space of the cockpit.

His parents were dead. His brother and sister had been held prisoner and invaded and tortured in too many ways to count. Every home he had had been attacked. Even Daniel had almost begun to think quietly that they would simply never defeat Apophis, the way the Jaffa and human slaves believed gods could never die. And now... It had only been four years, but those years had been long--it felt like he had spent his whole life hating Apophis, and now Apophis was gone for good.

_"Daniel?"_ Jack's voice said.

"Hm?" Daniel said without looking up.

_"Whatcha doin'?"_

Instead of answering, Daniel wrapped his arms around his legs and closed his eyes. He didn't want to look up or look out just yet, and he didn't want to talk.

He could feel himself starting to shake and pretended it was from fatigue, until he brought a hand to his face and felt a telltale wetness. He wasn't sure if it was relief or grief or something else entirely, but his eyes were blurred when he opened them. He tapped off his microphone, not wanting the others to hear his ragged breathing.

_"Hey,"_ Jack said, more sharply. _"What's going on in there? Say something."_

A shifting noise came from in front of him. Daniel peeked up and found that Teal'c had turned away from the controls and was standing in the tiny cockpit to look at him, even though he shouldn't, because he was the pilot, and they were floating like specks of dust in space above a huge planet that looked tiny from up here.

And now Daniel felt so small, because they had done everything he'd set out to do years ago...and nothing really mattered.

_"Teal'c, turn your mike back on,"_ Sam said. _"What happened?"_

"Are you hurt?" Teal'c said, ignoring the others.

Daniel shook his head. He tried again to control himself and swiped a hand angrily across his face. "Sorry," he said. "I don't..."

"I regret that it came to pass in that way," Teal'c said. "But now it is done."

It wasn't, though. It had barely started. "Yeah," Daniel said, because this was silly, and there wasn't room for things like this when they weren't home free yet, when a voice in his head was snapping, _c'mon, Jackson, keep it together_. He pressed the top of his head to the back of Teal'c's seat. "We're almost home. Gods, I want to go home."

"As do I," Teal'c said. Then, he activated his microphone again before he pulled away and sat down properly in his seat. "We are fine," he said. Daniel didn't raise his head, knowing they must all know he was scrubbing tears away and wiping his glasses dry but not wanting to look at them yet until he was sure he could do it without doing anything stupid.

_"Sure about that?"_ Jacob's voice said.

"Indeed," Teal'c said firmly. Daniel sniffed, took a deep breath, then another, until he could breathe without shaking too much, and sat up, finally turning his microphone back on.

He turned to the side and found Jacob watching him, and somehow he found the energy to flush in embarrassment. Sam's face showed more understanding than concern, and Jack would get it, because he was Jack, but Jacob probably thought he couldn't deal with the shock of their escape or having killed a man from close up. Or, after that stiff conversation they'd had about the death of the robotic SG-1, maybe he thought Daniel felt bad about Apophis's host, and it was all true and yet not the issue at all.

Apophis's death might be only a small step, even just a brief delay, in the war and the big picture, but it still meant something, at least to the people who had been at the SGC long enough to have seen Apophis's face or to have watched tensely as his ships had hovered over Earth years ago. Nothing and everything had changed today.

"I c-can't believe..." Daniel started, then cleared his throat and started again. "I can't believe we can see so much of Earth from here. It's clearer than I thought it would be."

_"There's the SGC,"_ Jack said, squinting and pointing a finger. From Daniel's angle, it looked like he was simply pointing in the vague direction of Earth, but he assumed Jack had fixed his sight on the outline of something and must have some general idea of where Cheyenne Mountain was located.

"It looks so small," Daniel said.

_"Uh...I don't think you can_ actually _see the SGC from here."_

He shook his head. "No--Earth. I keep forgetting how small everything is when it usually seems so...big."

_"Well--"_ Jacob started, but kindly stopped before he could voice what Daniel suspected would have been another reminder that SG personnel did that a lot--they forgot how small they really were in their tiny speck of the galaxy. Today was a victory, but a small one compared to what they now faced, and they had lost so much and so many before they could win even that.

_"It's all relative,"_ Sam said. _"Big and small."_

"Won and lost," Daniel heard himself say.

_"Daniel, your brain's on,"_ Jack said. _"You want to fix that."_

Sam laughed softly, and then silence dropped over them again.

Daniel stared at his screen, willing something to happen or someone's voice to answer their call. Nothing happened, though, and now that the instinctive fear of floating helpless in space had faded away, sitting in the cockpit of the glider was actually making him sleepy, tired from running and thinking and waiting. He'd never realized before how tiring it was to wait.

But before anyone could speak again, a beeping noise came from Daniel's panel. "Wait, wait, wait--incoming transmission."

_"I see it,"_ Jacob said. _"Everyone turn on long-range communications. Keep local on."_

"Got it," Daniel said once he found the switch Lantash had shown him.

_"Us too,"_ Jack added.

_"All right,"_ Jacob said. _"Accepting message."_

_"This is General George Hammond,"_ the general's familiar voice said into their ears, and despite everything, Daniel felt himself smile in relief. _"Identify yourself and explain your situation immediately. Over."_

_"It's a secure channel, Colonel,"_ Sam's voice said. _"Go ahead."_

_"General Hammond,"_ Jack said, _"this is Colonel O'Neill with Major Carter, Teal'c, Daniel Jackson, Jacob Carter, and Martouf. And Lantash. And Selmak and Junior. Our ship was taken over, so we blew it up and escaped in gliders, but trust me, sir, it was worth it. We're in orbit now, and we need somewhere to land. Over."_

Silence answered him.

"Jack?" Daniel said.

_"Might be a little time delay,"_ Sam suggested. _"Or they're verifying with satellites. Wait for it."_

Finally, the general's voice came back. _"It's good to hear your voice, Colonel. I'll have our missiles stop targeting you and clear an area. I recommend you land just outside the Mountain. If that will not be possible, tell me now. Over."_

"Can you land that precisely?" Daniel asked.

This time, it was Jacob who said, _"George, it's Jacob Carter. We're gonna need a little guidance. Send us coordinates--or keep transmitting from there and we can lock onto your signal. Over."_

_"We'll do that,"_ the general said. _"I need to get people out of the area first for security, but we'll stay in touch. Give us a little time, then come in on my order. Welcome home. Hammond out."_

...x...

**_15 July 2001; Earth; 1700 hrs_ **

Daniel must have fallen asleep sometime just after the last communication with the general, and he woke up to hear the general say, _"SG unit, begin your descent when ready."_

_"Roger, sir,"_ Jack said. Daniel blinked and reset his monitor to show their position over Earth. _"Take the lead, Teal'c. Then us, and the Carters will follow."_

The reentry was a bumpier ride than he'd expected--even the inertial dampeners couldn't completely cushion them from the turbulence--but Teal'c flew smoothly, confidently, and even a little slower than necessary, to make sure Lantash didn't lose track of him as they searched for Cheyenne Mountain and tried to avoid being seen at the same time.

When they finally touched down, right in the middle of an abandoned Norad Road and in front of the entrance to the Mountain, it was to the sight of cars with security forces pointing guns at them. Daniel decided he was still half-asleep, since the sight failed to do anything but make him yawn.

"I don't know what good they think those guns are going to do against the shields on these _udajeet_ ," Daniel said.

_"You're still online, Mr. Jackson,"_ General Hammond's amused voice said in his ear as the general himself stepped out of one of the cars, holding a radio and looking up into the sky.

"Sorry, sir," Daniel said sheepishly and thought to add, "Not that I think they should test the shields and shoot us or anything." No one lowered his or her weapon, but a glance around showed a few smiles.

The sounds of more gliders behind him signaled the others' arrival. He turned in his seat to see Martouf settling down very carefully on the asphalt while Jacob zoomed in more casually from above.

_"Everyone okay?"_ Jack's voice said. _"Marty?"_

_"Must you insist on calling me 'Marty?'"_ Lantash growled.

_"Why, don't you like it?"_ Jack said.

_"Dad and I are fine, sir,"_ Sam added before either Lantash or Martouf could answer.

"So are we," Daniel said.

Teal'c leaned back and pulled the latch to raise the shield and window over their heads. Daniel climbed out after Teal'c, which was a good thing, because he discovered his legs had gone numb and every sore muscle reawakened, and, if it hadn't been for Teal'c's steadying hand, he would have collapsed when he hopped down and landed on the road.

"SG-1 and Tok'ra tagalongs reporting for duty, sir," Jack said, though he still held a hand on the side of their glider, too, as Sam and Jacob both climbed wearily out of their cockpit.

"I can see that, Colonel," the general said, smiling widely and shaking his head. "I'll assume you have quite a story for us."

"Well, sir--"

"Why don't we wait until we're inside," the general cut him off. "We're having enough trouble with sightings and rumors, and we need you to take your medical exams."

It wasn't until he heard that part that Daniel noticed the guns still pointing at them. He supposed it made sense; there was more than enough risk between the botched trip to Vorash and Apophis's fleet, not to mention that they hadn't been able to explain yet what they'd done and what had happened. He was used to the security personnel, though, and he trusted them, so he didn't complain as they were herded into vans that took off down the tunnel and into the mountain.

Daniel got separated from Teal'c at some point, but Jack dropped into the seat next to him, Sam and Jacob in the row of seats in front while Teal'c and Martouf found their way into another vehicle. "You okay?" Jack said quietly.

"Mm-hm," Daniel said.

"Wanna tell me what happened just then?" Jack pointed upward.

"Nope," Daniel said.

Jack kept looking at him, but when he didn't elaborate, conceded, "Okay," in a tone that meant, ' _we'll talk later_.'

"I call first shower," Sam said.

"Hey, I'm the guest here," Jacob said.

"There's more than one shower on base," Jack pointed out, "and we helped you guys move, so you owe us, guest or not."

"And fine job you did of the moving," Jacob said.

"All right, you know what..." Jack started indignantly.

Daniel leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes, letting their bickering voices wash over him.

...x...

There wasn't an SG-1 locker room anymore--there were too many teams and too many personnel now to warrant assigning an entire ready room to any one team--so Daniel found his locker in the men's room once Janet pronounced them all Goa'uld-free and not in physical danger of anything except perhaps collapsing in exhaustion.

He changed into a clean set of BDUs, his body moving on autopilot, and then sat on a bench, favoring his burned side but too tired to care much about the quiet throbbing. There was probably a debrief or something, so there was no reason to feel like he didn't know what he was supposed to do now.

As he stared at his open locker, a sheet of paper fluttered past his face and into his lap. Blinking in surprise, Daniel picked it up.

"'Attention all SGC personnel,'" he read aloud. "'Apophis is dead. (Really, this time.)'"

He turned around and saw Major Ferretti looking down at him. "Nice, huh?" Ferretti said.

"What is this?" Daniel said.

Ferretti shrugged and took the sheet back. "Found it before I could go home. Some sergeant was excited while typing up memos. Can't _imagine_ why."

"Oh," Daniel said. He looked around and found that Teal'c was still there, but Jack had finished first and must have gone to talk to the general already. He rubbed a hand over his face, trying to wake up. The thought struck him that this might be a dream and waking up would make it go away, but he decided that, if it had been a dream, everything should at least feel more artificially simple.

Nodding to Teal'c as well, Ferretti said more seriously, "Good to see you guys back in one piece. Everyone's been worried." He jerked his head back, and Daniel followed the movement to see the rest of Ferretti's team and a few others standing there, too.

"We're in six pieces," Daniel said stupidly. "More if you count the symbiotes separately."

Grinning, Ferretti clapped him on the shoulder. "Our little grasshopper's all grown up and saving the world," he teased. "Just...stop getting yourselves lost, all right? The brass was starting to talk about naming a new SG-1 if you guys didn't get back soon. I'm not sure who would've exploded first over that, but it would've been messy."

"We will attempt to remain in as few pieces as possible, Major Ferretti," Teal'c said.

Daniel forced a laugh along with the men, sensing that that was what he was expected to do to match their mood. When the others left, leaving Daniel alone with Teal'c, he sighed and flopped backward to lie on the bench.

"Are you well?" Teal'c said.

"I don't know," Daniel said, closing his eyes. "I'm too tired to think too hard right now." That was a lie, though. Being tired only meant he was thinking more than usual, without the filters of logic and sense that he usually kept in place. "We killed him," Daniel said.

"Indeed," Teal'c said.

"Do you wish you hadn't...done what you did?" Daniel asked, remembering the image of symbiote blood dripping from Teal'c's fingers.

He didn't have to look to see Teal'c's expression. "Perhaps," Teal'c said.

"But you'd do it again, given the chance," he guessed.

There was a longer pause this time. "Yes," Teal'c said.

Daniel sighed. "Me too, I think. I wish I hadn't, but I'd do it again."

"But you acted out of kindness, in the end," Teal'c said.

"I wanted it to be over," Daniel said, not sure if that was agreement or denial.

"For Apophis's host as well."

Opening his eyes, Daniel sat up and said, "We have to get to the briefing room...preferably before I fall asleep here."

Teal'c was still frowning down at him. Quietly, even though they were the only ones here, he said, "Do we need to speak further of this, Daniel Jackson?"

"I'm just going in circles right now," Daniel admitted. He wished the last few days hadn't happened but was glad that they had. They had both done things in the heat of the moment that they regretted, but in the calm of home, they could admit they would have done it again. He wished he could forget what Apophis's corpse looked like but was beyond relieved that Apophis was dead. "I don't know what there is to say. At least not yet."

A knock sounded on the door, and it pushed open a crack. "Teal'c?" Sam's voice called from outside. "Daniel? Are you in there?"

"Yeah--we're coming, Sam," Daniel called back, and pushed himself to his feet. To Teal'c, he added lightly, "Duty calls."

"Come to us if you find something to say," Teal'c said before he could go. "Any of us."

Daniel nodded. "Sure." Then, because he realized that this went both ways, he added, "And, uh...you, too. You know that, right?"

Teal'c smiled very slightly. "I do."

Then the door swung open, and Jack strode in. Sam was still standing at the entrance and quickly looked away, then peeked back when she realized there were no undressed men in the room. "Everyone good?" Jack said.

"We are fine, O'Neill," Teal'c said.

Daniel pushed his locker closed, braced himself for the questions and excited buzzing they would likely find in the corridor, and turned around with a smile that was at least partly real. The mission wasn't over quite yet, and he was starting to understand that this was part of what it meant to wear the SG-1 patch, too. "Fine," he echoed. "Let's get this meeting over with."

"All right," Jack said, gesturing them all out into the corridor. "Smile, people. We won."


	30. Epilogue: Life

**_15 July 2001; Briefing Room, SGC; 1900 hrs_ **

Jack kicked Daniel's foot under the table. Daniel jerked back awake.

"I know you're all tired," Hammond said. "We're nearly done, and then you can--"

"Chulak," Daniel said in his typically incomprehensible way. "We should go to," he added, and then, a second later, "Sir."

"The Jaffa rebellion is rapidly gaining strength on Chulak," Teal'c explained, because few could understand a Daniel who'd just woken up, "but they are hindered by those who still believe in the Goa'uld. Perhaps news of Apophis's death will convince them further."

Hammond sighed. "All right, but I insist that you get at least a night's rest first before going anywhere. Chulak is still dangerous, even with both Bra'tac and Rak'nor helping. And," he added to Jacob, "you'll want to go to Revanna. I'll call them immediately and let them know, but checking in with them and reviewing security is probably a more urgent first trip than Chulak."

"Uh...Revanna, sir?" Carter repeated.

"It's the name of the planet where the Tok'ra are building their new base," Major Davis filled in.

"It's been our backup plan for months," Jacob said. "Before we thought it would be possible to use a Goa'uld mothership to move the Stargate to an uncharted planet, we'd been considering Revanna as a possibility. If a better option comes up, we'll move again, but not before we take some time to gather more of our resources."

"So that's about it, sir," Jack said. "Apophis's fleet was destroyed by the supernova, Apophis's ship was destroyed by the Replicators, and Apophis and the Replicators were destroyed by Earth's atmosphere." Lots of destruction, but none of it had been his people or his team, so for now, he was okay with that.

"In addition," Martouf added, "we have learned never to attempt to enter hyperspace at the exact moment of a supernova event while flying within that system."

Carter suppressed a smile. Jack tried to figure out whether that was a joke--did Martouf joke?--and couldn't tell.

"Speaking of," Hammond said, "there were Tok'ra scout ships in the area just before the supernova. They left before you did and didn't see what happened, but they _did_ record a few odd events that I was hoping you'd be able to explain."

"Well, two of the events would've been us and Apophis going into hyperspace," Jacob said. "But there was something else? A subspace window?"

"Yes," Hammond said. "A single _al'kesh_ was spotted entering hyperspace significantly before you--minutes before the supernova. We've been fearing that that meant Apophis escaped the blast that destroyed his fleet."

"But we know for a fact that Apophis was still on the mothership when we landed in the other galaxy," Carter filled in, frowning. "Who else would've jumped ship and escaped? A Jaffa?"

"It is unlikely that a Jaffa would escape from such a situation himself, especially without allowing Apophis to be saved in his place," Teal'c said. Jack had to agree--it was that subservience and the willingness of Jaffa to act as living shields and cannon-fodder that let SG personnel win against them, at least some of the time.

"Were there minor Goa'uld onboard?" Daniel said, and then his eyes widened. "Oh..."

"Tanith," Teal'c realized.

"He wasn't on Vorash when the system was destroyed?" Davis spoke up, paging through what was probably all the data pieced together from the past few days.

Carter shook her head. "No--Teal'c and Colonel O'Neill shot down the _al'kesh_ that was going to pick him up, but Apophis's fleet arrived early. Daniel and I found another _al'kesh_ hovering just over the rings on Vorash, and we saw Tanith escape using the rings. He wouldn't have wanted to go back to Apophis after he'd failed and had nothing to show for it, but he might have taken that _al'kesh_ \--"

"--and escaped again," Teal'c said.

"There's nothing we can do about it now," Jack said.

He'd known that Teal'c had a vengeful streak a few miles wide, but it had scared even him a little, the way Teal'c had refused to listen to reason on that death glider zooming toward Vorash. On this team, not everyone seemed to understand the use of the chain of command and Jack was used to it by now, but with Teal'c, there was usually a good reason for disobedience and a good risk-benefit assessment behind it. He'd never be able to trust Teal'c around Tanith again, and he hated not being able to trust everyone on his team, even if only in certain circumstances.

Then again, there were circumstances in which Carter and Daniel had to be watched carefully, too. When something made Carter doubt her orders, the orders usually won out if they were from Jack or Hammond, but it made her too hesitant. When Daniel decided he was more morally right than everyone else, sometimes he was right (and sometimes he was wrong), but it made him dangerously reckless.

Jack supposed he should just be grateful those circumstances didn't usually overlap. If there was one thing their team did well most of the time, it was making up for each other.

"If Tanith escaped," Jacob said, "then he's got no armies, no support, and no one backing him. In fact, rumor might get to other System Lords that Tanith was played by the Tok'ra. No one will take him in. If he wants to pose a threat, he'll have to start from scratch."

"Unfortunately," Daniel said, "sometimes being a Goa'uld seems to be enough to gain support from humans and Jaffa troops. The god thing."

Jack shook his head and repeated firmly, "Nothing we can do now. Sir, I recommend we keep Tanith in mind, but there's no way we can actively look for him."

"I agree, Colonel," Hammond said.

Turning to Davis, Jack said, "And sorry about the fireball in the sky. What did your bosses say?"

Davis sighed. "We're calling it a meteor."

Jacob laughed aloud.

"Yes, sir," Davis agreed. "Luckily, the Russian government is cooperating and confirming that they saw a meteor burn up in our atmosphere. As for the death gliders, we don't think there was any footage taken, but a couple of odd reports have come in. We've been vehemently denying that it was a test flight for a new class of stealth aircraft...so everyone thinks we were testing stealth aircraft."

"It's not very stealthy if people saw and reported it," Daniel pointed out.

"Got a better story?" Jack said.

"Well...no," Daniel admitted.

"And with that," Hammond said, standing up, "I think we're done here. All of you get some sleep, and then you can start spreading the news to our allies."

Major Davis followed Hammond into his office. Jack fought the urge to sit back down and fall asleep right here. If he sat down now, it meant he'd just have to get back up and walk to the bunkroom in a minute.

"So...Revanna tomorrow?" Jacob said.

"Yeah, we can go first thing," Jack said.

Daniel yawned again. "Sometimes I think the follow-up, clean-up missions are the hardest. No adrenaline rush to go along with the sleep deprivation."

"Then perhaps you should begin to sleep as soon as possible," Teal'c suggested.

"Yeah, okay," Daniel said, starting to lay his head on the table until Teal'c hauled him to his feet by the back of his shirt.

"Unless you wish otherwise," Martouf said, "I think I should remain here on the base while you contact our allies. I have had my share of adventures with SG-1. Perhaps one day Lantash and another host may join you again."

"Martouf..." Carter said in a tone that meant Jack was missing something.

"That won't be for years yet," Daniel said casually, but not casually enough that Jack couldn't tell there was something un-casual about it. A quick look at Teal'c and Jacob showed that they didn't understand the subtext, either, but then, Carter spent a lot more time with Martouf than any of them, and Daniel was more open than Jack about asking questions of the Tok'ra.

Still, Jack said, "Well, that was some nice work you did yesterday and today--couldn't've done it without you. Let us know if you want to come with us again sometime."

With a smile, Martouf nodded to him. "Thank you, Colonel. And all of you--I admit it was good to be on a mission again."

"I'm just glad you can fly Goa'uld aircraft," Jack said honestly.

"Come on," Carter said, beginning to shepherd him and her father of the room. "Dad, I'll get you a room for the night, and we should all get some rest. I'll walk up with you guys."

XXXXX

**_16 July 2001; Revanna; 0900 hrs_ **

"We're back," Dad announced when they managed to find the ring platform that led to the new Tok'ra base.

Sam looked around, amazed by how much had already been built in...what, three days? Of course, they had those crystal-forming crystals to help them create tunnels, but still, even the ring platform itself must have taken quite a bit of labor. She wondered suddenly where they'd gotten a set of rings, then remembered the Tok'ra had a couple of ships that usually had rings on them. She really had to ask how something like that got dismantled properly.

"Welcome," Ren'al said, inclining her head slightly. "I told General Hammond days ago that I did not believe you could be alive. I am pleased to find that I was wrong."

"I feel so loved," Colonel O'Neill deadpanned.

"We're glad you were able to settle here safely, Councilor, even though the original plan didn't work," Daniel said. "If you need help setting up or replacing any equipment you lost on Vorash, General Hammond has offered our aid."

Sam felt a shift next to her and glanced up to see Teal'c looking back with a tiny, almost-smile on his lips. She grinned at him. It was nice not having to play diplomat anymore to the colonel's more undiplomatic ways.

"You were able to escape through hyperspace before the star system was destroyed, then?" Ren'al asked.

"In a way," Sam said. "It's a...long story, but the gist of it is that the only casualty on our side after we left Vorash was Cronus's mothership. Apophis and a large chunk of his forces are dead, and we're alive."

Ren'al's expression intensified. "There is no question? We had feared that--"

"Apophis wasn't the one who escaped at Vorash," the colonel interjected. "We think that was Tanith. Apophis is definitely"--he glanced at Teal'c--"very dead. No question."

Selmak had taken over at some point without Sam's realizing it and said, "I cannot think of anything Tanith could reveal about our current position, but it is a matter that must be carefully considered if he is indeed at large."

As much as she'd come to like Selmak, it was still really _weird_ hearing that voice and that inflection coming out of her dad's mouth. Weirder still was that she was actually starting to get used to it.

"So..." Daniel was saying. "Is there anything we can do to help you finish moving in while we're here?"

The colonel made a half-turn, wearing his best _shut-up-Daniel_ expression. Before he could speak up, Ren'al said, "Much of our technology is incompatible with yours--or, rather, attempting to interface them in such a way would drastically reduce efficiency."

"In other words, you want to get your own equipment," Sam said. "But if you'd like, we can still lend a hand to shift things around if you need the help, or set up what equipment you managed to bring. It must be pretty hectic around here, and security must still be an issue."

The colonel made up a new _shut-up-Carter_ expression on the spot.

Finally, Ren'al nodded. "Very well. That would be appreciated, Major Carter."

...x...

Sam lay under a console with Daniel. She was trying to slot another crystal into a stubborn control panel when a small child zoomed past her, followed by Colonel O'Neill.

And then Teal'c zoomed after them both, which made her sit up so fast she cracked her head on the bottom of the panel.

"Ouch," Daniel said, wincing vicariously as she bit her lip and pressed a hand to the top of her head. "You okay?"

Instead of answering, Sam slid out from under the station where they'd been working. "Was that...?"

"Jack," Daniel said, crawling out to join her.

"And--"

"Teal'c," he confirmed.

"Huh," she said. "And was that--?"

"Charlie," Daniel said, nodding.

Well, of course. It wasn't like the Tok'ra kept many children around. "The genetically engineered Reetou boy with all the organ failure?"

"I'm sure there's a more politically correct term," he said, his tone just this side of chiding.

Sam glanced at him and saw him watching the others play, which seemed to consist mostly of Charlie running around in circles while the colonel chased him and Teal'c planted himself as an obstacle around which to run. "I just wasn't sure we were still calling him Charlie," she admitted. "Because of...you know. The colonel."

"Oh," he said thoughtfully. "I guess so. But he does still go by Charlie. His symbiote calls him that, too, and Jack doesn't seem to mind."

Charlie squeaked and clutched Teal'c's legs from behind. Teal'c backed into a wall to prevent the colonel from reaching the boy, which incited a brief, upright wrestling match that just barely avoided squashing Charlie but made him giggle.

She wondered what it would have been like to meet her older teammates under different circumstances, with Charlie O'Neill and Rya'c as children underfoot instead of as ghosts and fugitives. She slid carefully back under the table. "Can you read that for me?" she said, pointing at the diagnostic screen positioned next to the control panel that indicated what repair needed to be done. "I still can't get the power back, and I'm not sure what's wrong."

A few moments later, Daniel was wriggling into place, lying next to her and, blinking up at the screen. "Um," he said. "It says the circuit isn't closed."

"But it is," she said, frowning, then groaned. "Unless one of the crystals is broken."

"Can't you tell if one's broken?" he said.

"Not always, if it's not an obvious crack or something," Sam said, reaching up with a hand to explore the panel by touch. "Here, I'm going to hand you the crystals one by one to test." She carefully pulled the first one out of the panel above her. "You see the slot where it goes in on the diagnostic computer?"

Daniel accepted the crystal but paused before putting it in. "Does the direction matter? Oh, never mind--it only fits one way."

A minute later, he pulled it back out and said, "This one's fine."

They continued testing crystals until Daniel jumped, sitting up and cracking _his_ head on the bottom of the console. "Ow--Charlie, don't--"

"I did nothing!" Charlie's voice said from farther down. "But I told you not to play under the tables."

Sam raised her head enough to look out and just barely saw Colonel O'Neill letting go of Daniel's leg a little guiltily. "Sir," she complained.

"Jack, that was you? What was that for?" Daniel groaned, rubbing his forehead and straightening his pant leg where the colonel had grabbed him.

"Just wanted to see if I could make you jump," the colonel said. "Blame Teal'c."

"Why would I blame--"

"I'm just saying," the colonel said.

"You should stop making bets with Teal'c." With a sharp exhale through his nose, Daniel pulled his legs out of the man's reach, muttering, "You're such a child sometimes."

Sam bit her lips, then had to slap a hand over her mouth to stop from laughing. Daniel turned and glared at her, which made a snort escape.

By the time she'd composed herself, the colonel had run off again and Charlie's chattering could be heard.

"You're going to make fun of the person translating for you?" Daniel said grumpily, but even as he said it, he was slotting another crystal into the computer for it to run its diagnostic.

"Uh-huh," Sam said, grinning and knowing he'd be distracted soon, anyway.

The colonel was like this. On a mission, or when it really mattered, they could usually count on his attempts at humor to be purposeful--morale-raising sometimes, or a way to make them annoyed at him instead of worried about their circumstances, or a distraction for people who weren't familiar with him. When he was bored, though, and they weren't in imminent danger of dying and were in the presence of small children...well. All bets were off.

Also, Daniel was distracted again and no longer grumpy.

"It says that the current..." he started, then stopped. "Uh...I think this is talking about resistance."

Sam glanced at the last crystal to be tested. There was no visible damage, but she asked, "What about the resistance?"

"It's too high?"

"Is that a question or an answer?"

In answer, Daniel pulled the crystal back out. "Anyway, something's wrong with this crystal," he said. She accepted it and set it carefully aside in the pile of crystals to be examined. "Is that it?"

"We'll have to get a replacement, and then...yeah, I think that's it for this panel," she said, pushing herself back out from under the console. "Just two more on this thing and it should be good to go."

He crawled back out and joined her. A high peal of laughter made them both turn, but O'Neill, Teal'c, and Charlie must have taken their playing out of sight. Daniel leaned over her work to peer at the circuits inside. "Can I ask you a question?" he said, reaching a finger in as if to touch a panel until she grabbed his hand to stop him.

"Sure," she said.

"Um... The other, uh...Harlan's SG-1," he said, then paused again. "Well. I just mean that they were so different and...so similar. Do you ever wonder what it would have been like if they could have come back with you the first time?"

Sam started to think of the possibilities and quickly shut that down to point out, "They had power limitations. Even with that pack they invented, they only would've lasted forty-eight hours, max."

"But what if they hadn't had power limitations?"

"There would have been security issues--or the NID or even someone else would have caused more trouble."

"But what _if_ , Sam?"

She sighed. "If they hadn't, and there weren't, then they wouldn't've been _them_ , and it's a moot point."

Daniel brooded on that for a few moments while she turned back around to check the other systems on the console they'd been working on. He folded his arms and passively watched her work, which could only mean that he was still thinking. She opened a panel and examined the circuitry inside.

"All right," she said, "to start off, I need...four green ones. No--five."

"What was she like?" he said suddenly, even as he handed crystals up to her. "I barely even saw the other...well...you. Captain Carter."

_("They're protected by a force field," Sam said, shaking her stinging hands._

_"Switch with me," her double said. "I'll do it.")_

"I barely got to talk to her, either," Sam said. She slotted a green crystal in. "Not enough time."

"What do you think of them?" he pressed. "Or what _did_ you think of them when you first met them, when they were still basically you?"

It was hard getting into these discussions with Daniel. Sam distanced herself from disturbing things by thinking about something else instead; Daniel distanced himself by pretending he wasn't disturbed at all and then poking even harder, like if he only tried hard enough to see it all, he would understand why it hurt. It was like watching a cold, bloody dissection, sometimes--he peeled back each layer and cut right to the heart of it, but once he was there, he wasn't squeamish; he could wrap everything in layers of theory and present it as a heart without a flinch. Dissections were messy. Sam preferred her science clean and clear.

Was she supposed to feel ashamed that the other Carter had died so that she and the rest could live, or should she be proud that she would have done that, since they were so much the same? Or had they been separate enough that she didn't have a claim to either shame or pride?

"I think the colonels would've fought a lot," she finally said. "Or one would've moved...somewhere. They wouldn't've lived together on base."

"Mm," Daniel said, tilting his head. "It wouldn't help that they're not equal. The other O'Neill would always be faster and stronger, but our Jack would get all the rank and authority from people on Earth, just for being human."

Personally, Sam thought that being human wasn't 'just' anything. She _had_ thought that, anyway, until she'd watched her other self die doing something Sam herself couldn't do.

"The Teal'cs would've ignored each other," Daniel said. He glanced at her and gave her an almost-nudge with his elbow that didn't quite make contact, and she realized he was trying to turn it into a game of speculation to take the edge off. It took the edge off for _him_. "Yeah?"

"Uh...yeah, maybe," she said, finally acquiescing. "I think I would've gotten along with the other me. She must've been--"

"Smarter?"

Sam wrinkled her nose. "Better at calculations," she conceded. Faster, stronger, better...

"It would be the same thing between you two as between the Jacks," Daniel suggested. "It would just take longer and be more polite. You're too competitive. She would always be better than you at math and computers, and you'd go on missions while she was stuck on base to recharge, and you would be promoted while she stayed Captain."

She didn't think the US Air Force would give a robot a promotion and a raise. Still, the words stung, even though she couldn't claim any of it wasn't true. "Not Teal'c?" she said.

"Actually," Daniel said, "I don't think he'd have cared about having someone stronger and...and more accurate with weapons than he was on base. But the part about not having a Goa'uld in his abdomen..."

"Yeah," she acknowledged. "That's true. Although...it might not turn ugly with them. The other Teal'c wouldn't have gloated about it or anything, not to an ally." And their Teal'c might be envious, but he wouldn't begrudge the other the lack of a Goa'uld.

"Oh," Daniel said suddenly.

She raised her eyebrows. "Oh?"

"I get it now. The Teal'cs would be allies and they'd work together in the field and probably make a scary team, but they wouldn't be friends. All of you would be like that, at best--you can't share a life."

Sam thought about that as she took the notebook out of Daniel's pocket and jotted down what crystals needed to be replaced for this console.

"Sure you can," she said eventually, ripping out a sheet and flipping the rest shut.

Daniel looked up, startled, clearly having moved on to a different thought. "Can what?"

"Share a life," she said. "The four of us. Sometimes it feels like we're practically living in each others' pockets." As if to prove it, she gave the notebook and pen back to Daniel, who didn't even seem to notice when she stuck it directly into his pocket for him.

He narrowed his eyes as he pushed the last panel shut. "Maybe that's true," he said. "Can't share a life with yourself, then." She imagined what would have happen if Daniel had been duplicated with the rest of them. Maybe the two would have gotten along and talked about stuff like this. Maybe the robot would resent never getting past fourteen years old in appearance--and in respect--while the original would be frustrated that he couldn't solve language puzzles as fast. "But I still wish--"

"Yeah," she said. "I know."

He nodded, frowning thoughtfully at the ground. "We should replace these," he finally said, nudging a toe at the pile of damaged crystals. "Are there more backups somewhere?"

Sam beckoned. "This way. I think I saw a store of a lot of them for people to use."

"It's a good thing you know how to fix these things," Daniel said as they moved down the corridor. "Now you just have to learn to fly a ship."

Smiling, she said, "We're gonna be tinkering with Cronus's gliders to see if there's any sort of failsafe trap left in them, but either way, as soon as the X-302 is done, I'm getting some flying lessons in."

"What's the good of having a Tok'ra father if you don't get flying lessons?" Daniel agreed, raising his eyebrows so innocently that he had to be teasing someone.

She realized why a second later when her dad stepped into view, shaking his head. "Just for that, no lessons for you," her dad told Daniel.

"Teal'c can teach me if we get a chance to learn," Daniel said, unconcerned.

"How's it going with the Council, Dad?" Sam said.

"How does anything ever go with _any_ council?" Dad answered. "It's busy. You? Saying long?"

"Just long enough to fix one more thing, and then we'll probably go," she said, a little reluctantly.

"Yeah, I need to get back to the Council and go over a few things," Dad said, grimacing. "Just wanted to see you before you take off. I'll see you soon, all right?"

"Sure," she said, suppressing the disappointment that never completely disappeared when they had to go separate ways. "I'm looking forward to our next mission."

He hugged her quickly and then gave her a mock-stern look. "No more destruction of celestial bodies while I'm gone."

"That wasn't--" she started. "That was partly you and Selmak, too."

"If you say so," he said. "You're going to Chulak next? Take care of yourselves." He started down the corridor and called back, "And try to keep Jack out of trouble."

XXXXX

**_17 July 2001; Chulak; 0900 hrs_ **

"We need to learn to stay out of trouble," O'Neill said once there were no longer bodies pinning them to the ground.

Teal'c stood up and looked at Bra'tac in the dark of night while his companions brushed themselves off and pushed themselves to their feet, as well. "Bra'tac--" he started.

"Not here," Bra'tac interrupted quietly. A quick gesture to the other, hooded Jaffa who surrounded them was enough to send them ahead and into the woods around them. "Come."

O'Neill and Major Carter exchanged worried glances, but Teal'c nodded to both to tell them it was no more dangerous than usual. Bra'tac was still waiting impatiently, so Teal'c gestured for Daniel Jackson to follow and fell into place at his side, O'Neill and Major Carter guarding from behind.

Soft rustling came from around them as they walked, as of footsteps on leaves. Teal'c gritted his teeth and restrained himself from turning to find the source of the noise--it was undoubtedly the scouts Bra'tac had sent ahead of them. None of his human companions seemed to notice--Teal'c suspected that even many Jaffa would not have noticed--but he saw Bra'tac shake his head when someone's foot fell too heavily in the distance, and he knew there would be a harder training lesson the next day.

The camps where the _kresh'ta_ lived were no longer mere camps. They were much bigger, though not extravagant--Teal'c knew now, as the Goa'uld had still to learn and the rebels understood well, that extravagance was a waste of power and resources that could be better used otherwise. A System Lord could afford the waste, perhaps, when few had dared to challenge them until now; a camp of rebels could not.

And these were no longer _kresh'ta_. This was where they lived who hated the Goa'uld, and while they might always be in danger while the Goa'uld lived, they were no longer the outcasts on this planet. Apophis had been too harsh too many times with his subjects here, and he had wrongly chosen a time of growing rebellion to do so.

But Teal'c had not expected to walk past all of the small homes and into the main part of the city.

Wary--for they had come to deliver news, not to seek battle--Teal'c touched a hand to Bra'ta'c's arm to catch his attention.

_'What is it?'_ Bra'tac's expression said.

Teal'c gripped his staff weapon on one hand and asked with the other, _'Where?'_

Bra'tac smiled, a tiny life of one half of his mouth. _'Wait and see,'_ he meant.

There was a large house beginning to come into view when Teal'c felt something nearby and whirled around, staff weapon priming. Another weapon was aimed at his chest already, and he froze, still holding his position.

His opponent was not moving and wore a hooded robe that covered his face too well to see in the dark. A glance to Teal'c's side showed Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter both aiming their weapons at others, out of Teal'c's line of sight; another glance the other way showed that Daniel Jackson had his gun in his hand but did not seem to know where to aim it. Too many.

And Bra'tac...had not moved.

" _Tal bet,_ " Bra'tac ordered.

Teal'c waited for his opponent to lower his weapon before obeying reluctantly as well.

"Weapons down," Daniel Jackson said, looking at O'Neill and Major Carter.

"Why?" O'Neill said.

"You are among friends," Teal'c's opponent said, then tipped his hood back.

"Rak'nor," Teal'c recognized. His unease was replaced with satisfaction. These men--he looked around and found five other Jaffa surrounding them--had been trained well. Young though Rak'nor might be, he was a worthy warrior.

Rak'nor inclined his head slightly. "Come inside," he said.

...x...

"Nice digs," O'Neill said, whistling as he looked around the luxurious home.

"You should not be here," Bra'tac scolded once the door had closed behind them.

"Where is _here_?" Daniel Jackson asked, turning in a circle to look around.

"The home of Fro'tak of the High Cliffs," Bra'tac said, glancing at Teal'c.

"He is the one of whom I spoke before," Teal'c told Daniel Jackson, "who worked as a scribe in the Hall of Records."

"Only until Apophis betrayed us," Fro'tak's familiar voice said. Teal'c turned, smiling widely to see the friend he had not seen in years. "Now, my home--and others like this one--is a refuge for those who follow Bra'tac."

"And Teal'c," Daniel Jackson said loyally. "Bra'tac and Teal'c."

Bra'tac and Rak'nor knew of Daniel Jackson's ways already and did not react. Fro'tak looked at him, then glanced past to where O'Neill and Major Carter were standing. "Of course, child--and Teal'c," Fro'tak said, in the way that one might speak to a young Jaffa of Daniel Jackson's age.

The Tau'ri and the Tok'ra so rarely spoke to Daniel Jackson in that way anymore that he seemed surprised. Teal'c stepped forward and said with more than a little pride, "Not a child--this is the warrior who held Cronus at bay as I killed him eight days ago--"

"Cronus!" Bra'tac said, surprised.

"--and killed Apophis beside me two days ago," Teal'c finished. Daniel Jackson gave him an odd look but did not interrupt. The Jaffa who stood around Fro'tak's house became very still. "Yes, brothers and sisters. Apophis is dead."

When someone finally answered, it was Rak'nor. "We have heard that before," Rak'nor said.

"Never before did we watch Apophis die and then destroy the body ourselves," Teal'c said.

"That's the trick," O'Neill spoke up, his tone light but his eyes hard. "Can't come back to life when there's nothing left to come back to."

Rak'nor believed them, as did Bra'tac, because they trusted the word of Teal'c and SG-1. A man deceived was the most dangerous enemy--it was what would have made Rak'nor a formidable opponent after his father had been killed by Apophis, and it was what would now make Rak'nor a formidable ally after he had seen Heru-ur die.

But there were others who looked unsure, and Teal'c had had enough of believing without knowing. "You do not have to trust us," he told the room of waiting ears. "If you are here, then you know already that Apophis and the Goa'uld are not worth your worship. We can give you nothing but our word that Apophis will never return here."

"Now, that doesn't mean no one else will come," Major Carter said. Teal'c saw a few of the Jaffa shift in their place, perhaps as uncomfortable to see a woman with a weapon as he himself had been at the start. "Cronus is dead, and so is Apophis. As you know, there are plenty more where they came from, and some might see Chulak as a place to recruit people into their armies. "

"As Heru-ur did before he died," Rak'nor spoke up. "But we will not fall to any Goa'uld."

"But Apophis is--" someone started, then stopped.

"A god?" O'Neill said, raising his eyebrows.

"Powerful," the Jaffa retorted.

"Well, his blood was all over Teal'c and Daniel's hands a couple of days ago," O'Neill said. "If one Jaffa and his human student can do that, imagine what an army of Jaffa can do."

"It wasn’t just Teal'c and me," Daniel Jackson said, but he spoke seriously, not in modesty. "It took a lot of our allies. Even then, a lot of people died and we were lucky and had to try...far too many times to get there. We're not saying it'll be easy, but you know that already."

Bra'tac nodded. "This is not a task that they"--he gestured to SG-1--"or even all of us in this house can accomplish alone. But together, with Jaffa, humans, Tok'ra, and more at our back, we are strong. Apophis is dead. Think on that."

...x...

Teal'c was grateful that O'Neill wished to speak with Rak'nor and Fro'tak, that Major Carter wished to listen, and that O'Neill's eyebrows could make Daniel Jackson sit when his words could not. Bra'tac had long since begun to call Teal'c his friend and brother, but there were times when Teal'c wished he could speak with Bra'tac as a student again.

"Cronus," Bra'tac repeated when they stepped outside of Fro'tak's house. Teal'c nodded. "There have been times when I have doubted that you would defeat him."

"I am stronger than Cronus was," Teal'c said.

"It was not your arm or your heart that I doubted, but your reason. I am pleased that you did not allow your lust for his death to overpower you."

Despite his words, Bra'tac was watching him, knowing, as always. Teal'c had trained in black night and the fog of battle under this man--the shadows of night did nothing to mask the expression he knew his teacher was wearing. "I nearly failed," he said eventually.

"Ah," was all Bra'tac said.

"The boy who calls me _'Tek'ma'tae_ ' nearly died with me."

"Yet the boy does not think less of you."

Daniel Jackson had always known those things about Teal'c, though, or he would not have followed that day on Cronus's ship. "What does it matter?" Teal'c growled. "Cronus is dead."

"He is dead," Bra'tac agreed. "And what will you do next time, when one of them"--he jabbed a finger toward the house--"dies instead because of your haste?"

"Do not think I have not imagined that," Teal'c said.

"Do not think I care what you have imagined," Bra'tac retorted. "Will the next time be different?"

The thought of Cronus leaning over Daniel Jackson was what had given him the strength to hold Apophis long enough, and to catch the symbiote before his friend could be taken. "We are still alive," Teal'c said in answer.

"Even after Apophis."

"I crushed his symbiote in my hand," Teal'c said. It was strange to remember that the symbiote in Teal'c's hand, and not the man Daniel Jackson had killed, had been the tyrant who had ruled them.

"I would have done the same," Bra'tac said, not asking how it had happened.

Teal'c clenched his fist, almost able to feel the blood still flowing through his fingers, just as the blood of his father's symbiote--and Shan'auc's--had flowed through the fingers of other Goa'uld. "I do not regret it. I would do again if I had the chance."

"Be glad that you do not have the chance," Bra'tac advised. "I do not know if I could take the wiser path if I had Apophis kneeling before me now. But that will be my last act against the Goa'uld--when my _prim'ta_ becomes too old for me to carry, I will kill it with my own hands."

"That will not be your last, Bra'tac," Teal'c said, frowning. This was the second time his friend had spoken of such things.

"I am old, Teal'c. When this symbiote matures, in less than two years, I will die as a Jaffa warrior, as our ancestors before us died. Perhaps," he added thoughtfully, "I will even seek out enlightenment at Kheb."

"We can find symbiotes for you," Teal'c said. "We have stolen _prim'ta_ from the Goa'uld before."

"And it will nonetheless reject my body," Bra'tac said. "You know this already."

"Our scientists have been attempting to devise a method to eliminate our dependence on the larval Goa'uld," Teal'c said.

Bra'tac's lips turned upward slightly, and only then did Teal'c realize he had said _'our scientists_ ,' and not _'the Tau'ri_.' "And if such a method is not completed when my time comes," Bra'tac said, "then I will have lived a full life. I will have seen the fall of Apophis and the beginning of a new era. I will die free, Teal'c."

"My son needs you," Teal'c said. "The rebellion needs you."

"Perhaps," Bra'tac said noncommittally, then pulled Teal'c's hood over his head. "Now. Do not show your face until you have reached the _chaapa'ai_. You have friends here, Teal'c, but you still also have many enemies. We will speak again soon."

XXXXX

**_17 July 2001; Abydos; 1700 hrs_ **

Daniel stepped out of the wormhole, turned to Kasuf, and said, "Apophis is dead."

He was waiting for the ruckus around them--whispers, murmurs, questions, more than a few cheers--and didn't care or listen or answer, because Skaara and Sha'uri were standing frozen before him and the rest of the team. Skaara looked to Jack, as if asking for confirmation, and then turned to Sha'uri, looking lost.

They waited for the noise to fade. Abydos deserved a little ruckus. Apophis had meant something to everyone here, too.

Then Sha'uri stepped closer, Skaara at her side, and, too quietly for people behind her to hear, she said, "You are certain that you killed him?"

"With our own hands," Teal'c told her. Daniel forced his hands to hold still. "We destroyed the body, then left it on a ship as it burned. There is nothing left of him now."

Skaara looked down. Sha'uri didn't, but her hand fisted in her robe at her side.

Teal'c's words weren't true, of course. There was plenty left of Apophis, and there always would be, but they were memories now, mere stories to pass down. That was where gods and monsters belonged: in stories, in history, and in thought, not sitting on thrones among men.

"Now," Jack said, stepping up beside him and directing his words to Kasuf as much as to them, "if you don't mind, we'd like to talk about certain strategic points. You know, an update on the System Lords and where we stand, what you can probably expect."

Sha'uri nodded. "We would be grateful for that."

Finally, Skaara raised his head, looking unnaturally solemn. "Yes. Abydos will never belong to a Goa'uld again."

...x...

When they returned to Nagada, Daniel found Kasuf alone for a moment and lowered himself to his knees. "Dan'yel," Kasuf said, sounding surprised. "What is this?"

"I lied to you," Daniel said, staring at the folds of his robe on the ground. "I must ask your forgiveness."

Kasuf didn't answer for a while. "When?"

"Just before Shifu came," Daniel said. "We came to take naquadah. We used it for a bomb."

"But you have done so many times before," Kasuf said, puzzled. "No?"

"Not like that," Daniel insisted. "I did not tell you that it was for a bomb."

"Dan'yel..." Kasuf sighed. When Daniel looked up, the man still looked confused. "We often do not know for what the SGC uses our naquadah. We do not ask."

"Yes, but...because you trust us," Daniel said. "You trust _them_."

Kasuf raised his eyebrows. "We have been given no reason not to trust. Are you telling me now that I should not?"

"No!" Daniel said quickly. "No. It was only that one time. But. It was wrong. I believed it was wrong, what we would do with the naquadah. Major Carter and Teal'c tried to stop it. O'Neill risked...very much to stop it. I would have asked you to refuse to give us that naquadah if the other choice had not been worse--"

"Would you do it again?" Kasuf said, not asking what the other choice had been.

Daniel bit his lip. It always came down to this. He could wish all he wanted that he hadn't done something, but if he could say with certainty that he would have done it again... "Yes."

"Then how can it be the wrong choice?"

"But how can you trust us?"

"You are telling me now," Kasuf said simply. "Our people were not harmed. And you have given us comfort and hope that the false gods will fall--that we will live in peace, without fear again." Daniel looked up at him, furrowing his brow. "Dan'yel. I was once _lo'taur_ to Ra and later led our people against him. I know that nothing is so simple. If you say that we are right to believe in Tau'ri"--Daniel nodded vigorously--"then we believe."

"Oh," Daniel said.

"Stand up," Kasuf said. When he obeyed, Kasuf took him gently by the shoulders. "My son. My friend. All I ask is that you stay safe."

"I cannot promise that," Daniel admitted.

Kasuf gave him a sad smile. "And yet I will ask it of you, and you will do what you can in answer. That is all we can ever do."

...x...

Daniel didn't turn when someone crunched the sand behind him and listened instead to the footfalls. Jack had a distinctive loping stride that was easy to pick out, especially with the dry ground rattling under him. Besides--Sam and Teal'c would take their cues from the Abydons and keep their distance while he was at his parents' grave. Privacy simply didn't hold the same meaning to Jack as it did for most people, at least where his team was concerned.

"Hey," Jack said, sticking his hands into his pockets once he was only a few steps away.

"Hey," Daniel answered.

Jack tilted his head at the stone marking the place. "Thinking again?"

"That is something I do," he said absently.

"I noticed."

Daniel reluctantly checked his watch. "Is it time to go already?"

"We've got _lots_ of time," Jack assured him. "We should make this our official vacation home. I mean, we killed two System Lords, blew up a sun, and destroyed our fourth mothership around Earth's orbit and our second ship with Replicators, not to _mention_ the three gliders at Area 51 that they're using for spare parts. Do you have any idea how long we'll be dining out on this?"

Daniel snorted. "About a day, probably. Do you realize how much paperwork we haven't done from everything?"

"Your reports are always too long; blame yourself for that," Jack said.

"Your reports are always so short that it's hard to figure out exactly what happened."

"It's concise."

"It's lacking details and sufficient context."

"See," Jack said, "I use one word, you use five."

Daniel smiled involuntarily and raised his eyebrows at his parents. _'See what I have to put up with?'_ he told them silently and wondered what they would have said in response.

"Your people are celebrating," Jack said suddenly, jerking his thumb back toward the village.

"I know," Daniel said.

"They're wondering where their Traveler is."

Daniel frowned, then said, "Their...uh. You don't mean _me_ , do you?"

"There are little kids whispering about the god-killer, too," Jack said unhelpfully. When Daniel turned an appalled look on him, he added, "I didn't come up with the name. I'm just the messenger. Although it's got a nice ring--"

"The great Jack O'Neill," Daniel retorted. "Destroyer of gods and hero of Abydos and killer of Ra and savior of the--"

"Shut up," Jack muttered.

_God-killer_. He hoped they weren't actually saying that, not about him, but while Jack might make things up, this didn't sound like something he'd joke about. He didn't even want to know what else they were calling Sam and Teal'c, and how many more suffixes they'd added to O'Neill's name.

"I didn't kill him, you know," Daniel said. It was ridiculous that people might think he had, when he'd been the one stumbling in and getting caught and accidentally staying alive. That the knife had been in his hand meant so little; it was Martouf who had directed them through the ship, Sam who had found the Replicator infestation, Jacob and Jack who had taken care of the Jaffa in their path, Teal'c who had saved him at least twice in the space of a minute.

Jack shrugged. "Technicalities. You helped just as much as anyone else. And it doesn't matter; you're one of theirs, and gods are falling like never before. Let 'em celebrate."

Gods were big, though. It didn't matter whether or not they were real gods; when they fell, they crushed a lot around them.

"So why aren't you celebrating with them?" Daniel said.

"Never liked that stuff," Jack said dismissively. "I took off while everyone's back was turned."

"I'll be there in a minute," Daniel said.

"Ah, don't bother. Betcha anything Carter and Teal'c will come out and join us as soon as they can escape. We can make a party of it."

"On the burial grounds?"

"We could walk backward several meters," Jack amended, "and then make a party of it."

Daniel nodded.

"Or...we could stay here," Jack said after a minute.

"It's nice here, isn't it?" Daniel said, looking up. "The planet, I mean, not specifically _here_ here." He hadn't realized at first that the daytime sky could look different on different planets--bluer or brighter or more full of clouds. The air smelled different, too. He thought that might be what he missed the most on Earth: the smell of the desert and the feel of the ground.

"It's not easier for them," Jack said, calling his attention back. "Well, maybe it is, in some ways. But if you think Kasuf doesn't think about his kids being taken every time we bring up Apophis, or your brother and sister can forget about what happened to them..."

"Of course not," Daniel murmured.

"But they're not gonna let their people dwell on that. Life's too short."

He opened his mouth to answer, then closed it. It was an odd thing to say, now that they'd met people whose lives were all but infinite.

"For humans," Jack clarified.

"Yeah." When nothing more was forthcoming, Daniel added, "I'm not moping."

"Okay," Jack said.

"I'm not."

"Okay."

Daniel sighed.

"You're thinking," Jack said. "Which, given your brain, is just as dangerous."

But Jack let him keep thinking anyway, and it was Daniel who broke their silence to say, "You've been doing this kind of thing forever."

"Uh...no," Jack said.

"Not wrecking spaceships," Daniel clarified. "Fighting people."

"All right, 'most of my life' is not ' _forever_ ,'" Jack said, sounding indignant but amused, too.

"I think I'm getting used to it," Daniel said. "But it hasn't been all that long for me, even if it feels like it has. How do you do it? All those years...how aren't you tired?"

Jack did some thinking of his own, then, and finally said, "Letting yourself get tired is the quickest way to get dead. Hammond knows that--it's why we have so many evaluations. And why we rotate the exploration roster. It's why the four of us are _off_ the rotation for a week or two."

"I thought that was because of the paperwork we haven't done," Daniel said.

With a shrug, Jack pointed out, "Getting killed just makes more paperwork. No one wants that."

Daniel rolled his eyes. "Of course."

A moment later, Jack asked, "You tired?"

"Yeah, I am," Daniel said honestly. "But I'll be bored in a week. Sam and I will have a list of planets we want to see by then."

Jack smiled briefly and clapped a hand on his back. "That's the spirit."

As if summoned by her name, Sam called, "Colonel, Daniel?"

Jack raised an eyebrow at him, then turned around to face Sam and Teal'c, both of them standing just beyond the last plot. "Hey, guys," he said, making his way toward them.

On an impulse, Daniel stayed where he was and said, "Teal'c--come here?" Teal'c stiffened. Jack paused in the middle of a step, then continued on until he'd reached Sam's side. "Please," Daniel said, gesturing. "Just for a minute."

Teal'c glanced at Jack, then finally handed over his staff weapon and stepped gingerly between the graves and toward Daniel, his entire body and expression radiating discomfort.

"Daniel Jackson..." he said quietly.

"These are my parents," Daniel said, tentatively grasping his friend's stiff arm and pulling him closer. Teal'c didn't budge--Daniel didn't have the muscles to force him to move and wouldn't, anyway, but the tug must have been enough, because eventually Teal'c took two tiny steps forward. "Melburn and Claire Jackson. Uh, obviously."

Teal'c looked down at the stone place marker. He didn't speak.

"And I wanted them to meet my friend," Daniel added. "I mean, not _meet_ , of course, because they're, you know... But..."

When Teal'c finally opened his mouth, it was only to say, "I understand."

"Teal'c has protected me and taught me a lot," Daniel said aloud to the grave, but mostly for Teal'c, and told Teal'c directly, "They would have liked you."

"I will continue to teach and to protect you," Teal'c said to him.

"Not for that. They would've liked _you_. I'm sure they'd say it now if they could." He hesitated, then decided it had to be said, whether or not he had the right to say it. "They would have forgiven you, too. For everything. I'm sure of it."

Teal'c didn't seem to know what to say, and neither did Daniel, so it wasn't until Teal'c started glancing at him worriedly that he realized he was on the brink of crying again for no one reason he could name.

"I don't know what's wrong with me lately," Daniel muttered, blinking and ducking his head self-consciously.

"Your mother and father would not have wished you to spend your life grieving for the dead," Teal'c said gently.

"I'm not sad," Daniel said, and was surprised to find that that was mostly true. Relieved, maybe, between Apophis and Cronus and being here on Abydos, and overwhelmed at the idea of what had passed and what was still to come, but not strictly sad right now. He took another step back, and this time, Teal'c stepped back with him. "I just can't believe it's over."

It wasn't over, not even close. Killing what had ripped him from his home and his kin and his life didn't change anything, really. Apophis's death marked something important, and yet, all it meant for them now was a brief reprieve, staving off imminent defeat just one more time in a string of battles that each meant so little to the war, and the joy and the bleakness of the moment was almost more than he could stand.

"Indeed it is," Teal'c said softly, understanding. "And it is not."

_He's dead,_ Daniel told his parents. _We killed the one who killed you, and I don't know what it means._ "What does it mean?" he asked.

Teal'c didn't seem to know, either, or not at first. And then, he said, "We live in fear of one less Goa'uld. Those who fell fighting him can continue on their journey in peace."

"All roads lead to the great path," Daniel said, Shifu's words echoing in his mind. Shifu would know, surely, he and Oma Desala. Maybe Daniel's parents were on the great path and had met Robert after all, and all the other people--friends--that they'd lost. Maybe they had been watching him all along.

"That is not now," Teal'c said.

"But eventually."

"That is not now," Teal'c repeated. "The fate of the _kalach_ is the concern of the dead. You are among the living."

"Yeah," Daniel said, standing among the dead. His life always started with those dead who were buried here. He had been born in the aftermath of a bloody revolution and then begun anew with his parents' death. "We've avenged our dead. Do you think...they'd understand? Or approve?"

Teal'c was silent for a moment. Then, he took Daniel's shoulders, like they were in the gym and he was correcting a position, and pulled him around until he was facing away. "Honor your dead, Daniel Jackson--fight in their name. But live for the living." He started back to their friends and turned back and raised an eyebrow. Daniel watched thoughtfully for a moment, and then followed them all back to the village.

...x...

Sha'uri dropped into a seat next to Daniel as others talked and traded stories and wrestled or watched the boys wrestle. "I saw Shifu again," she told him quietly.

Daniel whipped around to face her. "What? You--where? When?"

But she shook her head. "In a dream."

"Oh," he said. "Right, uh...I was there."

"A _different_ dream, Dan'yel," she clarified, flicking his ear. "It came to me shortly after he left us. He said that he would watch over us--that he was at peace."

He hated that disappointment flickered through him, because he should want the best for Shifu first, who was the child, not himself. "Oh," he repeated. For a moment, he wasn't sure whether to feel uncomfortable about the fact that someone might be watching over him the way that Shifu might be, then decided it wasn't a bad thought, as long as his little brother wasn't watching while he was in the shower or doing anything embarrassing.

Sha'uri tilted her head, then said, "You do not ask how I know that it was not simply a dream."

" _Was_ it just a dream?" Daniel said.

"No," she said. "I am certain that it was Shifu who spoke to me."

"Well, I believe you if you say it was real. A lot of people still aren't completely sure that we didn't imagine the entire thing, with the other dream."

"We know better, you and I," she said with a smile. "I thought that you should know." She stood and ruffled the top of his head.

He reached up automatically to bat the offending hand away but then caught it instead. "Sha'uri--I'm glad you told me," he said.

She nodded and extracted her arm, still smiling, and returned to the man she had been sitting with before. Daniel felt his eyebrows rise as she leaned in close to him for a moment and received a smile from the man in return. Not her husband--surely he would have heard about that, even from light years away--but perhaps he would be one day.

He looked around, making sure he knew where the others were--Jack was talking to Skaara, while Sam couldn't seem to resist trying to fix a sagging, wooden fence in the absence of electrical circuits, and Teal'c held what looked like a very serious conference with Kasuf.

Daniel climbed up to sit on top of the fence closing off one of the mastadge pens and watched the bustle from there, absently patting the animal when it headbutted his hand.

Life was too short, Jack had said. There were people managing to live happily here, despite all that had happened to them and their home. It was easy to forget about this part, sometimes--that the death of an entire army of men meant life for someone else who would otherwise have been killed. In battle, they sought their enemies' death, but their goal was still life.

He'd always miss the smell of the air and the feel of sand on his feet, and it would feel less and less familiar every time he came back and he _knew_ that already, but he suspected the restlessness was stronger and would never go away. He'd found his brother and his sister and her son, and they'd killed Apophis, and they'd finished so many things but started so many more. It would never be over, and for perhaps the first time, he didn't think he ever really wanted it to be.

There was death waiting for SG personnel--their own or their friends' or both--but there was life, too, as long as they were willing to fight for it.

The mastadge engulfed Daniel's fingers in its mouth.

"Ew," Jack's voice said, and Daniel turned to see him and Skaara standing next to him.

Wrinkling his nose, Daniel pulled his wet hand out. "Ew," he agreed.

Skaara ventured too close, though, and Daniel wiped the saliva off on his brother's hair.

" _Ay_!" Skaara complained, swiping at him in retaliation and making him topple off the top of the gate he'd been sitting on, which made him land on Jack, who cushioned his fall to the ground with his _mik'ta_ and a loud curse.

"Oops," Daniel said, and scooted off Jack as fast as he could, because Jack was already recovering and lunging for him. He did _not_ need those two teaming up against him, except then, Jack was sitting on him and Skaara was choosing now to remember where Daniel had been most ticklish as a child.

Daniel had held out before against men with shock weapons and Goa'ulds with ribbon devices, so he clamped his lips together stubbornly and struggled to free himself, until suddenly Jack shifted his weight onto Daniel's shoulders and Sam appeared and sat down on his legs, and there was no hope for escape.

In the end, it was perhaps the most embarrassing thing that had happened to him in very recent memory, but he'd laughed, too. He couldn't remember the last time he had laughed so hard, even if it had been at the hands of a merciless older brother.

Also, Teal'c rescued him, and it was always fun to see Jack struggling futilely in the grip of an amused Jaffa.

"You may travel through the _chaapa'ai_ and defeat Goa'uld," Skaara said, laughing himself as Daniel caught his breath and made a mild effort to look dignified while sprawled on the dusty ground, "but I knew you as a baby, do not forget."

"I haven't forgotten," Daniel protested. "It's not my fault I'm the most mature one around here."

For that, Sam sat on him again, and Teal'c accidentally let Jack escape to steal Daniel's sandals. Skaara fed them to the mastadge.

...x...

Too soon, Sam said, "I hate to break this up, but we should get going. Given recent events, General Hammond probably wouldn’t like it if we missed a check-in, even by a few minutes."

Jack checked his watch. "Yeah, you're right," he agreed, but even he sounded reluctant.

"I will walk back with you," Skaara offered.

The pyramid was rarely really empty these days unless there was a good reason for it, so there were plenty of people milling around, paying them varying amounts of attention.

"Apophis is gone," Skaara said to Daniel as they arrived. "He who took us away is now dead. What will happen now, for you?"

Daniel shrugged. "For now, we wander the galaxy," he said. "Explore. Learn things."

"Try to find enough help so we won't be crushed the next time someone attacks," Jack added.

"Why not attack now?" Skaara asked. "Why wait for them to attack you?"

"Love to," Jack said. "Question is where, who, how. Mostly the 'how.'"

Skaara sighed but nodded in understanding. "Then...there is no longer one task that you wish to accomplish," he said. "You search without knowing what you seek."

"You sound like your nephew, you know that?" Jack said, but Skaara didn't laugh.

"I'll come home," Daniel said, knowing what he'd meant. "When we're done."

"Will you ever be done?" Skaara asked.

There had been a time when he had thought this would be the end--that after this, he would be done and go home. It was hard to know just when that time had passed, but it was no longer in sight. "I don't know," Daniel said honestly. "But that doesn't mean I won't come back sometimes, or you can't contact us..."

"Yes," Skaara said, forcing a smile and holding out a hand as Sam dialed the DHD. "Of course."

Daniel accepted the hand and pulled his brother close. "We never have to fear him again," he said quietly. "Will you be all right?"

Skaara patted him on the back. "Yes," he repeated, then pulled away. "We will all be fine. Return soon, brother--if I do not hear from you within two moon cycles, I will go to the SGC myself to ask them why."

Daniel grinned. "I'll visit," he promised as he backed up the steps toward the open wormhole. "We will."

"Be safe," Skaara called to them before they could leave.

"We'll do our best," Jack said.

Daniel paused before stepping through and waved to his people. He would always hate leaving here, but it didn't ache quite as much when he knew he'd be back. "Goodbye," he said.

...x...

**_18 July 2001; Embarkation Room, SGC; 2200 hrs_ **

General Hammond greeted them in the embarkation room.

"How did everything go?" the general asked.

"The Tok'ra are settling in, sir," Sam reported. "They've started setting up other outposts, too, in case the Goa'uld discover Revanna, but they're pretty short on supplies and personnel for that. We should consider Revanna their main base until further notice."

"The Jaffa rebellion is growing strong on Chulak," Teal'c added. "I believe we can count Rak'nor among those most loyal and most influential in our cause. He will soon begin to seek out the leaders of rebellions on other planets."

"Daniel rubbed spit in his brother's hair," Jack said.

"Jack took my shoe," Daniel said, holding up the single sandal that was left intact.

The general didn't so much as twitch. "All right, then," he said easily. "Glad to hear things went so well. Welcome back, SG-1."

"It's good to be home, sir," Daniel said, and followed his team down the ramp.

**XXXXX**

**FIN**

**XXXXX**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While I like to think each novel in the series has enough of a resolution that it can potentially serve an ending of sorts, this is the one I think of as 'The End'--at least, the end of books in this format, relatively straightforward and covering an entire season.
> 
> That being said, there is another story that spans from mid- to late season 5 until season 7. While Archaeology is the end of the main part of the series, the topic of the next book (Journeys) seems to me an important part of Daniel's...well, journey.


End file.
